Norris, Thornton also claim podium finishes
Jones County’s boys distance runners were not quite finished with their imprints into the school record books on Monday.
Competing in the GHSA Class AAAA State Track Championships at The University of Georgia, the boys relay team of Shaun Williams, Armani Norris, Clay Lacy, and Gavin Robinson set a county record, running a time of 7:58.66 to finish third.
“Every kid did their job. It’s so rare. It takes everyone at that level,” Geoff Moore, who coaches Jones County’s distance runners, said. “I’m just really proud of them. They worked really hard to compete at this level all year.”
Before the track season embarked, the capabilities of Williams, Luke Thornton, Lacy, and Robinson were well-known from their record-setting showings on the cross country course.
But as the track season went on, Norris emerged in a big way. All of that continued with Monday’s record showing. “It was a great way to end it. I would not say we gambled, but Armani really caught my eye. He kind of came out of nowhere for us this year. I started watching him in workouts with my kids and saw’ ‘hey, he can run with my kids.’ So he said, ‘I’d like to try the relay.’ So I said, ‘well, Luke is on the relay, and (Luke) said, ‘that’s a great idea, it’ll give me more time to rest before my events.’ He just competes. It’s turned out good.”
That was not Jones County’s only podium finish of the day at the Spec Towns Track & Field Complex.
“It was a great experience for them to compete in that place, it was a palace,” Moore said. “For our seniors to finish like that, it was fun.”
Norris also set a record on Monday, running a personal record time of 48.57 in the 400 meters. Thornton claimed an additional podium for himself in the 1600 meters, running 4:24.45 to finish sixth.
JCHS also had three runners in the 800 meters with Lacy, Williams, and Ian Boresahole in the field, a presence in itself that Moore is not sure may ever happen again.
“I don’t know if I will ever have three in the state final again, that’s hard to do.
They kind of got jostled around at the start and put in the blender.”
As Monday ended, other JCHS runners ran to finishes among the state’s best.
Tyler Marshall was 15th in the 1600 meters, and Gavin Robinson timed in 16th in the 3200.
The Lady Greyhounds carried home a finish of 13th in the girls’ 4x800 relay with Mary Barnwell, Makenzie Snook, Tanner Watts, and Jordan Norman-Brown running a 10:38.46.
“They beat two teams from the region that beat them earlier in the year,” Moore said. “They were ranked 16th and finished 13th, so I was proud of that.”
