A STEP AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION
Knoxville Catholic track star Truss’ talent is ‘next level’
Chloe Truss ambled off the track to sit on the nearby turf.
The Knoxville Catholic track and field star was the anchor of the 4x200 meter relay race at the KIL Championships at Hardin Valley Academy on Tuesday. When she received the baton, her team was third.
Coming from behind wasn't an issue. All she thought was, “It's now or never,” Truss said.
Knoxville Catholic track & field coach Sean O'Neil said the sophomore is bubbly by nature but her will to win is “next level.”
Truss' laser focus allowed her to earn gold at all three sprint events at the TSSAA Division IIAA state championships as a freshman in 2023. She became Catholic's first girls individual state champion since 2014.
Her ultra competitiveness helped her lead Catholic to gold in the relay in 1:44.80 and victories in her three individual events at the KIL for the second straight year.
Truss finished the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.33 seconds, the 200 in 26.02 and the 400 in 57.90.
“We've never had anybody like her at Catholic,” said O'Neil, who is in his 17th year at Catholic. “We've had some special athletes, but she's definitely the top sprinter we've ever had.”
Track & field start and pressure to dominate
Truss was naturally fast but plagued by a lack of hand-eye coordination.
“We tried soccer, she ran past the ball and didn't care about kicking it," said her dad, Kenny Truss.
Her introduction to track & field came in the third grade at Northshore Elementary School's field day.
“She ran circles around all the boys,” Kenny Truss said. “The track guy there wanted her to look at track and I told her I would be supportive.”
The sport isn't new to him as he was a sprinter in high school in Atlanta and his dad also competed in Ohio.
Chloe Truss surpassed her predecessors and is known statewide.
She recognizes that pressure to repeat exists and that people may think “anything less than that would seem like a disappointment,” O'Neil said.
Fear of losing is one of her biggest motivators.
“There's not really anywhere to go but down so I've got to stay up," she said.
Her dad is confident that she can keep her top spot but simultaneously, doesn't add to the burden she already feels to win.
“He's not the type to be on you all the time,” Truss said. “I think that helps because I just get pressure from everywhere else, but I can come home and it's not really there.”
Outside of winning, she loves making bonds and helping her teammates either through silliness or the homemade bracelets she gave everyone on her relay team last year. Outside of track, she takes pride in her academics. She enjoys AP World History and expects to take more advanced placement classes as a junior.
“I'm really proud of her, but I told her not to go so hard on the AP stuff,” Kenny Truss joked. “Trying to get over a 4.0 … she's competitive in that realm too.”
Toyloy Brown III is a Knox News sports reporter. Email toyloy.brown@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly Twitter, @TJ3rd_.