Sports
Ads wrap spring practice with preview of 2026 season
May 13, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Carter Collier burst through the line of scrimmage, galloped a couple more yards and ran into linebacker Bailey Pyle. Fellow defender Nathan Shilling grabbed on to help, and together, he and Pyle wrestled the junior tailback to the turf inside Eddie Courtney Stadium on Monday, May 11.
It was one of several gritty moments on a sunny spring day, as the Admirals’ defense held the offense in check throughout a scoreless spring game to wrap the Farragut football team’s 2026 spring practice.
“It was a good opportunity for us to get nine days of work against ourselves,” head coach Geoff Courtney said. “Saw a lot of growth at a lot of positions, guys who are playing in new spots. It’s been a good offseason in the weight room, too. We’re a little thin on depth at certain positions, so this was really just the starting point of what we’ll be doing into June and July. Feel like we got a lot done but still have a long way to go.”
With this being the public’s first glimpse at the 2026 Admirals, there was a lot more than football happening across the stadium.
Food trucks offered tacos and shaved ice options near the concourse, and fans received giveaways from the team store as the action unfolded.
There were even new assistant coaches, such as director of operations Dustin Lyles and offensive line coach Matt Bates, and players took part in fun competitions, too.
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May 13, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Whitney Lee is no stranger to new places and people.
The Florida native and Limestone University alumnus has discovered plenty of each in her lifetime, having moved from the United States to Myanmar — formerly Burma — in Asia at just 23 years old.
The lessons she learned as a coach there and in Korea will aid her now, as she has accepted just her second stateside coaching role as the new Farragut High School volleyball coach.
Lee, who began coaching the Farragut Middle School girls basketball team last year, will continue in that role while taking over the helm Andres Alves left vacant in January.
“We’re very excited to have Coach Lee,” FHS athletic director Donald Dodgen said. “She brings a lot of knowledge, and we are looking forward to working with her and seeing how the team comes out. We’re excited to have her as a teacher and a volleyball coach here.”
Now 36, Lee brings eight years of volleyball coaching experience from her time overseas. She has led national teams and middle and high school squads, having established a well-rounded perspective on player development.
“I wanted to get connected more at the high school since I teach here,” she said. “It’s nice to see the players throughout the day and build those relationships. I’ve coached off-campus at other schools, and I feel like I knew those players less.”
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May 13, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Nothing has been truly easy during the postseason for Farragut High School softball team.
After losing in the semifinals of the District 4-4A Tournament, the Lady Admirals had to win three consecutive games to win the championship.
The Lady Admirals accomplished that and earned the right to host an elimination game Monday night, May 11 in the Region 2-4A semifinals.
Farragut also won that game but had to work a little overtime to outlast Powell, 1-0, in nine innings.
The Lady Admirals prevailed over the Lady Panthers, the District 3-4A runners-up, when Callie Brown came up with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth, ending a pitchers’ duel between Hallie Grace Johnson and Powell senior Rianna Boone.
Brown’s walk-off game-winning hit came with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, ending a long and stressful night for both teams.
“That region semifinal is so stressful,” Farragut coach Nick Green said after Johnson, a junior, pitched a no-hitter against one of the area’s most potent lineups.
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May 13, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Culture and consistency.
While those two terms are often overused in sports, they offer a perfect summation of the Farragut baseball program.
Excluding the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, the Admirals have booked 18 straight trips to the sectional round of the TSSAA state playoffs. The latest one was solidified on Saturday, May 9, as FHS bounced back from an 8-4 loss to Oak Ridge to defeat Halls 13-3.
With the win, FHS will travel to Science Hill to play in a Class 4A sectional series this Wednesday and Thursday, May 13-14.
But to reach this point, the Ads had to check off yet another mark in their history.
“I think it starts with the players,” head coach Garrett Copeland said. “They’re the ones who have the success, and we try to do simple really well. Hit the ball hard on the field, make the defensive plays and the players buy in and work really hard from August. The success is really the fruit of their labor and the work that is put in behind the scenes.”
Perhaps no player has epitomized that approach more than Travis Brummitt Jr. On Saturday, the Pellissippi State signee and Class 4A Mr. Baseball finalist went 3-for-4 at the plate, having already hit a homer in his first at-bat against the same team in the region opener the previous day.
He also pitched all six innings, dealing six strikeouts while scattering five hits and three runs.
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May 13, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Bradley Culbreth walked alone near the 25-yard-line, still shocked as he looked toward the scoreboard of West High School’s Bill Wilson Field.
He was not pleased with the result that glowed in the distance: West 3, Farragut 2.
The Rebels sunk the Admirals in the District 4-AAA semifinals last Thursday, May 7, mounting a 3-0 lead that proved too much for Farragut to overcome.
In the process, an Admiral team that held hopes of its first state tournament appearance since 2021 saw its season end three weeks too early.
Never one to mince words, Culbreth offered an opinion that matched his soured expression.
“They hit us in the mouth,” he said. “We had zero answer for their intensity in the first half. This is one of those horror stories for a team that, if you don’t bring the same intensity the whole game, you get beat at this stage in the postseason. They’re a good team, and they beat us tonight.”
Logan Wright did provide a spark for Farragut, heading two goals in less than a minute in the second half.
“Effort. Athleticism,” Culbreth said of Wright. “He was an absolute spark for us. He’s young, he’s a sophomore. But the hole was too deep with how we played tonight.”
FHS gave up its first goal five minutes in on a corner kick, and the trouble continued from there. By halftime, the Rebels led 2-0.
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May 13, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Zach Scott could tell from the first day of practice that his Bearden flag football team could do something special.
“On day one in February, I showed them pictures of last year’s state champions celebrating and showed them the restaurant next to where the state tournament is played that I said we’d go to,” Scott said. “It was sort of silly but also my attempt to set a vision for something they hadn’t yet imagined. I knew they could be special when each of them wrote their goal for the season, and they wrote eating at that restaurant in May.”
That commitment was made complete last weekend, as Bearden stormed back from a 20-7 deficit to defeat Clinton 39-20 in the Region 1-AA championship. With the victory, the Lady Bulldogs are heading to the state tournament in the first TSSAA-sanctioned year of girls flag football.
“It’s very, very special,” Scott said. “We haven’t really grasped it yet, I don’t think, because we immediately went to the weekend, and I’m trying to wrap my head around getting these girls to Murfreesboro and fed and all the things. It’ll hit me when we get on that bus Thursday morning.”
In the meantime, when he hasn’t been preparing for their trip, it would be understandable if Scott needed a breather after the festivities of last Friday, May 8.
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May 13, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Leyton Lu’s voice carried across McFee Park: “Yeahhhh!”
It was a short-lived celebration for the Farragut senior, who defeated Science Hill’s Rohan Papireddy in a 10-5 match breaker to win 2-1 as a part of the Admirals’ Class AA sectional match against the visiting Hilltoppers.
Lu’s win brought the first victory of the night for feisty Farragut, which rallied from a 3-0 deficit to draw within 3-2 last Friday, May 8. Unfortunately for the Admirals, that was as close as they came in a 4-2 loss that left them one win short of their first-ever team-wide state tournament berth.
It marked their second sectional loss in the last three years, bringing a bittersweet end to a season that saw district and region championships.
“I always knew they were good and capable of getting this far,” FHS coach Joan Swanson said after talking with her team. “It was about keeping the momentum of their confidence and strength and the fact that we had five seniors — four of whom are in our starting six — I knew they wanted it. They had an opportunity to end their careers on a positive note, and they were driven.”
That showed throughout this season, as FHS rallied from a similar deficit to beat Maryville 4-3 for the aforementioned district crown. Days later, the Ads thumped Campbell County, 4-0, to claim the gold region plaque.
But their run ended against a Science Hill team that will make its seventh straight state tournament appearance in Chattanooga this week.
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May 13, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Three area public high schools will be heavily represented at the TSSAA Class AAA State Championships at the University of Tennessee’s Tom Black Track.
The meet will be contested May 19-20, in Knoxville.
Farragut High School had several multiple event qualifiers emerge from the East Tennessee Sectional Meet last week at Hardin Valley Academy.
The Lady Admirals Peyton Edmunds won the sectional pole vault championship as she posted an effort of 10 feet. Zoi LeCours finished fourth in the girls 3200-meter run as she crossed the finish line in 11 minutes, 25.21 seconds.
Farragut’s boys team member Chase McAvoy, who will compete in the State Decathlon this week at Hardin Valley Academy, won the high jump with a leap of 6-8. He was fourth in the long jump (21-8). He also qualified in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 39.04 seconds.
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May 13, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Knoxville Catholic High School’s boys soccer team achieved a first on the pitch Saturday afternoon, May 9.
The Irish won a state playoff game for the first time since they have been competing in Division II-AA, accomplishing that feat with a 2-0 victory over Father Ryan at Blaine Stadium.
“This is the first time that Catholic has won a playoff game for both the boys and the girls since we’ve been in Division II,” Irish coach Josh Martin said. “Now, if we win our next game, we’ll make it to the state Final Four in Murfreesboro.”
The Irish (8-6-4) next will play Saturday when it travels to Nashville to take on Montgomery Bell Academy. A win at MBA would punch Catholic’s ticket to the state semifinals.
“It was big for us breaking through that barrier,” Martin said. “But our next game will be tough because every team you play will be good and the game will be hard.”
Against Father Ryan, Catholic led 1-0 at halftime. The Irish got both of their goals from Jack Tucker and the second marker was assisted by Levi Perkinson.
Catholic goalkeeper Tate McCarty made 10 saves en route to recording a clean sheet.
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May 13, 2026 by Jake Nichols
After reeling off an impressive 11-3 campaign, the Farragut boys lacrosse team saw its season end last Friday, May 8, in a 12-9 loss to Nolensville in the boys Class AA state semifinals
The Ads may have experienced a bit of Déjà vu, as their season ended with the same sequence as last year: a quarterfinal win over Cookeville and a semifinal loss to the Knights.
FHS trailed 5-1 in the first quarter, clawed its way back within 9-7 and tied it 9-9 with roughly nine minutes to play. But Nolensville broke through with three more goals in quick succession, then held the ball to hang on for the win.
“We’re certainly devastated, but I couldn’t be prouder of these boys and their season,” head coach Ben Sachs said. “This was an amazing team that has had a very long and strong history together. Everyone that has gotten to know them has absolutely loved all that they accomplished together.”
The final statistics reflect those accomplishments, which include two straight region titles and two straight Final Four finishes.
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