The Lady Greyhounds lineup may have been laden with youth, but none of that seemed to matter for Jones County at Friday’s state cross country meet in Carrollton.
The Lady Hounds’ uphill climb continued again last week with an overall 12th-place finish against best-of-the-best in the state’s AAAA classification as senior Addison Robinson finished 17th individually.
The Lady Greyhounds’ showing comes after the season began with just one runner with a significant amount of varsity race experience. But Jones County’s climb increased as the season went on as a region title was followed up at last week’s state meet with a roster of three freshmen.
Robinson ran 20:21.96 to finish 17th, and Tanner Watts’ 21:38.08 took 49th overall. Mary Barnwell posted a sub-23minute time of 22:35.47 for a placement of 76th. Macie White and Makenzie Snook were 84th and 100th overall on times of 22:53.80 and 23:36.69.
“I was proud of them. To be region champs with three freshmen and having to pull kids up from JV, from where we started, that’s exciting,” Jones County head cross country coach Geoff Moore said.
More exciting for Jones County? Only Robinson graduates. While the Lady Hounds will for sure miss one of the best girls runners in program history, runners from the middle school level that were among the best in middle Georgia are expected to challenge for spots in next year’s lineup.
“We’ve got some really good girls coming up to the ninth grade,” Moore said.
