Stone Steel Cup Update: Cookeville Leads After Fall Sports
Photo by Jennie Patton
With Winter Sports getting geared up for postseason play, we have our first official update for the Stone Steel Cup Standings.
The Stone Steel Cup is awarded to the school who’s athletic program sets the standard for achievement and success across all sports. Last season, it was awarded to the Upperman Bees.
Taking only Fall Sports into account thus far, the Cavaliers of Cookeville currently hold the top spot in the standings with 111 total points. Livingston Academy sits in second with 71 points, with Upperman coming in third with 51 points.
The Cavaliers got a major boost in their points thanks to their postseason success in both Girls Soccer and Volleyball, as both teams made it past the region tournament round. The Volleyball Lady Cavs alone earned 49 points after factoring district and postseason wins, their district and region championships and 17 total individual accomplishments.
Among those accomplishments were All-District and All-Region nods for Blair Cherry, Blake Cherry and Meredith Herndon, along with Mattie Arnett’s District, District Tournament and Region Tournament MVP awards.
The Lady Cavs took down Science Hill in the opening round of the State Tournament, defeating them by a final score of 3-0. They fell in consecutive matches to eventual champion Brentwood and Siegel, though it capped off their third straight season in Murfreesboro.
On the soccer pitch, the Lady Cavs enjoyed a successful year that saw them upset Warren County in the district championship before making it within a game of the state tournament in Murfreesboro.
The Livingston Academy Wildcats find their place in the standing also due to success in Girls Soccer, as the Lady Cats enjoyed one of the best seasons in program history.
The Lady Cats’ first goal of the season was to take down Cumberland County, and they did so on three different occasions in 2020. The last of which occurred in the District Championship, as they defeated the Lady Jets by a final score of 3-2 after falling behind 2-1 early in the second half. Livingston followed that up with wins over Scott and Kingston to win the Region Championship, and then advanced to the State Tournament with a 1-0 win over McMinn Central just two days later in their substate game.
It would be a week before the Lady Cats took the field again, but it was on the biggest stage in Murfreesboro as they took on Dyersburg in the State Quarterfinals. Goals from Kaitlin Huntley and Lilly Copeland proved to be all they needed for the program’s first state tournament victory. They went on to fall to eventual Class AA Champion Greeneville, but that didn’t diminish the year the program had.
The Volleyball Lady Cats also had another successful season, as they came within a game of making it to the Class AA Volleyball State Tournament.
LA won the District Championship and made it to the Region Championship, where they fell in five sets. They went on the road to East Hamilton for their substate match, but fell by a final score of 3-1.
The Stone Steel Cup Standings will be updated once again at the conclusion of Winter sports.
Full standings can be found here.
