Beech High School hosted the ninth annual Coleman Midgett Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 3, drawing 26 cross-country teams to Sanders Ferry Park in Hendersonville.

The meet honors Coleman Midgett, a Beech runner who died Nov. 17, 2017, at age 16 in a car crash on Liberty Lane near Highway 25. What started as the Beech Invitational was renamed in his memory in 2018. Eight years later, the event remains one of the area's marquee regular-season cross-country meets, run on the former TSSAA state championship course.

Friends remembered Midgett as someone driven to help others. Shane Sisk, a student pastor at Long Hollow Baptist Church, told Fox 17 in November 2017 that Midgett had talked about a calling to serve: "I don't know exactly what his plans were, but a lot of people said he was going to be a preacher."

Sumner County Schools said in a statement after Midgett's death that he was "well liked by his fellow students and his teachers," according to WKRN.

Saturday's races began at 8:30 a.m. with the varsity girls, followed by varsity boys at 9:15 a.m. and JV races later in the morning. The field included 154 varsity boys runners across 18 scoring teams and 119 varsity girls runners across 12 teams, according to the Herald-Citizen.

Cookeville High School's Levi Detwiler won the varsity boys race in 15 minutes, 45.64 seconds. Teammate Aden Goode finished second at 16:14.33. The Cavaliers took the boys team title with 71 points, 40 ahead of second-place Kirkwood High School.

Cookeville coach Travis Shope told the Herald-Citizen his top two runners delivered as expected. He said he was encouraged to see Landon Winston and Deacon Daniels break 18 minutes again.

Ensworth claimed the varsity girls team crown with 75 points. Cookeville finished second at 93, and Battle Ground Academy placed third at 130.

Meet directors Stan Jones and Cade Watson, who is affiliated with Sumner County Schools, organized the day's schedule. The morning wrapped with an 11:30 a.m. awards ceremony recognizing the top three varsity teams and top 10 individuals in each race, according to the meet's official page on MileSplit.