As the runners crossed the finish line at Saturday’s state meet in Carrollton, both the Greyhounds and Lady Greyhounds found themselves in the top 10 overall.
JCHS head cross country coach Geoff Moore believes that it’s the first time in school history that both teams finished in the top 10 of the same state meet.
Addison Robinson finished the best of any Jones County runner, coming in 12th overall with a time of 19:57.66. Isabella Sanchez was 12 spots behind her with a run of 20:27.94, inching in front of Lilly Palmer’s 20:37.25 in 27th. Camryn Wommack’s 21:33.25 got her a top-50 finish of 48th with Tanner Watts placing 62nd on a run of 21:59.05.
“Their goal was to finish seventh,” Moore said of the Lady Greyhounds. “That is about where we’re supposed to be. They overachieved; that’s tough classification to run in.”
The Greyhounds’ seventhplace overall finish was led by Luke Thornton’s run of 16th with a time of 17:02.54 and Grady Newby coming in 26th on a time of 17:13.06. Shaun Williams placed 33rd as he ran a time of 17:29.41. Other top runners for the Greyhounds were Tyler Marshall in 44th and Clay Lacy in 59th with times of 17:45.71 and 17:59.30.
Even with the finish, there’s an element for the Greyhounds, who were down one of their top runners in Gavin Robinson, of what might have been.
“We weren’t happy with it, but that’s what makes you hungry for the next time you do it,” Moore said. “I take part of the blame for it. The season was a week longer, and we started some workouts a bit early. We probably ran one more race than we should have, and I’ll take the blame for that.”
That hunger should set in even more for 2025. The Lady Greyhounds lose just one of their top-five runners with the Greyhounds returning their top five going toward next year.
“We have another great chance next year,” Moore said.
