CROSS COUNTRY HOUNDS
Lady Hounds finish second
If there was any doubt about how Jones County would begin the season following arguably the best overall season in program history, that was answered in force at Saturday’s Into The Trail Invitational at Locust Grove.
In a field that included multiple teams from the Greyhounds’ region and others from the Atlanta area, Luke Thornton won first overall in the boys race to set a county record as the Greyhounds won first with the Lady Greyhounds finishing second to Pope, a AAAAAA program. The JV runners were hardly a slouch, either, winning first in the JV race and fourth in the girls event.
“When you can beat a team like that, that’s pretty big,” Jones County head coach Geoff Moore said of the boys winning first by beating Pope. “Sometimes, when you lose some people, you might take a step back.”
Saturday was a strong showing in the face of teams that JCHS will have to confront to repeat as region champions. The Greyhounds outran Locust Grove, Ola and Eagles Landing with the Lady Greyhounds besting all three of those teams as well as Warner Robins.
Thornton’s time of 16:37.71 took first overall in the boys varsity race. That included beating multiple runners from Pope, one of which Moore says will be running for a high-placed college program in the future. It was part of a Saturday in which Jones County showed that it was a force to be reckoned with as a team and individuals.
There may have been an expectation that at some point the Greyhounds and Lady Greyhounds would set a high mark, but in the first meet of the season?
“I did, but I didn’t think it would happen in the first meet, I didn’t think it’d happen on Saturday,” Moore said. “That kid (Thornton) beat, he’s a D1 runner.”
As a whole, the Greyhounds finished in five of the top 15 positions with their top four runners turning in times of less than 17:37. Tyler Marshall finished third with a time of 17:02.50, three spots in front of Gavin Robinson’s 17:24.60. Coming in 11th was Andrew Marshall at 17:36.80, and Grady Newby ran an 18:01.50, coming in 15th.
“This group has been running together since seventh grade. Our top four, they just mix it up and once they get out there and race. They have confidence and feel good,” Moore said. “They feel like it’s their time and can do it their way.”
The Lady Greyhounds were similarly dominant, claiming four of the top seven finish positions, and that came in spite of one runner powering through an illness with another unable to run as a result of an injury. Camryn Wommack ran a 20:39.86 to finish third, one spot in front of Lilly Palmer’s 20:43.52.
“They did a good job. Pope beat us, but we beat Mary Persons minus having Addison Robinson and Emily Patat had been out sick but still ran, but she’s not herself, yet. So considering all of that, we did good,” Moore said.
Freshman Isabella Sanchez was seventh with a time of 21:20.10 with the second-place finish being cemented by times of 23:51.01 and 24:22.39 by Patat and Gabrielle Childs to come in 22nd and 24th.
“When Isabella can catch up and run with Lilly and Camryn, they’ll be legit,” Moore said. “When we do get Addison and can get our fifth runner moved up a bit, we’ll be in really good shape for the region.”
The JV girls were led by Jordan Norman Brown, whose time of 26:51.30 earned a finish of 24th with Sage Ward in 27th, running a 29:48.60.
The depth of the Greyhounds roster was shown in the JV boys race with the Greyhounds winning first overall led by first-, and third- and fourth-place finishes by Shaun Williams, Connor Peterson and RJ Bryant with times of 19:08.18, 19:56.65 and 19:56.97. Connor Monile ran a 20:47.65 to come in 10th.
The Greyhounds return to the course on Saturday when they head to Whitesburg for the Bob Blastow Invitational.
“We’ll run a fast course,” Moore said. “The PRs should be all over the place.”
