Are talented, with heart = Arehearts
Running family has produced cross country, track state champs, other competitive successes
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Youngest Areheart sibling Bear, fourth from left, joins his brothers, from left, West, Scout and Colt and sister, Carolina - Photos submitted
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West Areheart - Photos submitted
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Scout Areheart - Photos submitted
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Colt Areheart - Photos submitted
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Carolina Areheart - Photos submitted
Getting their five children to run “to burn off energy,” that was the plan of Brad Areheart and his wife, Robyn Areheart, concerning their four boys and one girl.
“My wife and I, we were athletes, but we played other sports,” Brad said while beginning to explain the cross country and track success of his children at Webb School of Knoxville, Concord Christian School, Christian Academy of Knoxville and Hardin Valley Middle School.
“Really, the running thing started accidentally,” he added. “It’s funny. … About four years ago we were living out in Granger County. We had about 30 acres. … We just lived on a farm and had a really simple life out there. And I have five kids with a large family, and they had so much energy. And so I would have them go out and run every day just to burn off their energy.
“All of them were willing participants.”
To try to make it fair, “I mapped off a loop around the property. It was about a fifth of a mile. And I told them they needed to run one lap each day for however old they were,” Brad said. “So if you’re 6 years old, you jog six laps. ... They were all relatively young at that time, but they had a lot of energy.
“And we did that for several years,” he added.
How has that “energy burn-off” running paid off?
Running success of children: Carolina, West
Oldest child Carolina Areheart, a sophomore at Webb, was the 1600 meter track & field state champion in Division II-AA, as a freshman, along with being a leg on the Lady Spartans’ state champion 4 X 800 relay team in May 2023.
A few weeks ago, Carolina finished eighth statewide in Division II-AA cross country, helping her Lady Spartans win the state championship.
“Her team also qualified for Nike Nationals in cross country, and that’s the first girls team from the state of Tennessee to ever make it,” her father said.
Moreover, “she was runner-up at state in cross country in the seventh grade and eighth grade,” Brad said.
Most recently, West Areheart, a fifth-grader at CCS, was crowned state champion at the Elementary level (third through fifth grade) during the state meet in Memphis.
Also a football player, “Wes was like, ‘I really want to do it’ concerning cross country,” Brad said. “So he fit in runs around his practices and went to all the meets. And this year, he won every race. …”
To underline how rare that was, “I looked it up because we’ve been at this for a few years now, but he’s the first boy since Keegan Smith (junior star cross country/track runner at Knoxville Catholic High School) to win every race during an elementary season, including state. So that’s pretty good company,” Brad Areheart said.
West’s twin brother, Scout Areheart, finished third in state as a CCS fourth-grader before turning his focus to football.
Colt Areheart, a seventh-grader at CAK, has proven to be a consistently strong competitor.
The youngest, CCS third-grader Bear Areheart, “was the top third-grader at state and finished 43rd overall,” his dad said about this year’s elementary state meet.
