Cross Country Update - Week 8

Athletics

10/13/2020

We are nearing the end of cross country season!

The varsity and middle school teams both traveled to the heart of Georgia this week to compete in their largest meet this season. Twenty-three schools from the middle Georgia area met at the Georgia Premier Cross Country Course in Macon. Thanks to an unexpected detour near Sandersville, the trip took longer than expected and the middle school girls, who were running first, arrived with just 8 minutes to spare. Facing nearly 100 middle school girls in the race and with little time to warmup, the girls ran well, with Molly Bramhall with Kassidy Watson finishing 15th and 16th respectively. Joliene Romero (32nd), Sue Berman (36th), and Charlotte Stansfield (37th) rounded out the team’s top 5. The girls finished 5th in the team standings.

There were 125 in the middle school boys’ field and Lucas Johnson (2nd) and Patrick Joiner (5th) claimed two of the top five spots. Caleb Lambert (15th), Blake Peacock (48th) and Ethan Dawkins (57th) also scored points for the boys who finished 5th in the team standings.

With temperatures hovering in the upper 80s and an open course that offered little respite from the heat, the varsity times were significantly slower than normal. Most runners were 1.5 to 2 minutes over their season’s best times. In the varsity girls’ race, the Wildcat Pack ran together through the first half of the race but separated on the back half as the heat started to take its toll. The team still managed to place 6 runners in the top 25 out of a field of 115 including Claire Peacock (8th), Abigail Knight (11th), Rachel Goodell (14th), Emerson Eubank (20th), Julia Andrews (22nd), and Hannah Case (25th). The team finished third.

In a field of 120 runners, the boys placed 4 in the top 25 including Adam Lippe (6th), Brad Joiner (13th), Jacob Hanna (21st), and Eli Scott (25th). The team finished fourth.

This was the final regular season meet for the varsity teams. They now have two weeks to prepare for the region meet on October 21. The middle school teams race again on October 13 at Augusta Prep.