Ruston High’s Garrett commits to Tennessee

Ruston High School senior distance runner Lily Garrett has accomplished just about all an athlete can on the high school level.

As she begins her senior year at RHS, it’s no surprise she will be continuing her career on the collegiate level.

Monday she committed to the University of Tennessee and made that announcement on her social media account.

“Feeling so blessed and excited to announce the I have committed to the University of Tennessee! Thank you to my family, coaches and friends for the support and the ability to get here,” she said on Instagram. “I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me in Tennessee. Go Vols!”

Garrett is the defending state cross country champion in Class 5A, having won the event as a junior in Natchitoches with a time of 18:08.30 over the three-mile course. A week prior to that, she won the Class 5A regional meet with the seventh-fastest time in Louisiana history— clocking a 17:27.31.

For her exploits a year ago, she was named the Gatorade Louisiana Cross Country Player of the Year.

She would also be honored by Gatorade by winning the Play It Forward Spotlight Grant on behalf of Ruston Buddy Ball, with $10,000 secured for the local sports league for special needs children.

During track season in 2022, Garrett finished third in the Division I Louisiana State Indoor Meet in Baton Rouge in the 1600-meters and runner-up in the 3200-meters.

At the Louisiana State Outdoor Meet, also in Baton Rouge, she was third in the Class 5A 1600-meters but came back to the track later in the day to capture the state championship in the 3200-meters with a time of 11:12.12, 19 seconds ahead of second place.

Garrett will have an opportunity to defend her state cross country title on Nov. 14 in Natchitoches on the campus of Northwestern State.