Greyhounds’ stellar seniors not shying from lofty goals
It’s no secret around the Jones County cross country runners.
Since their sixth-grade year, a group of runners has had a strong bond, pushing one another to run for and achieve goals, eclipse high individual marks while also claiming the last three region titles and placing in the state’s top ten in each of the past three years.
But Luke Thornton, Tyler Marshall, Gavin Robinson, Shaun Williams, Grady Newby, and Clay Lacy also know that with them being seniors, the window of time to achieve greatness with Jones County is closing.
“It’s a very senior-laden group, these boys have been running together since the sixth grade,” Greyhounds head coach Geoff Moore said.
That success is summed up by a look at the Jones County record books, where the top five overall times all come from this year’s seniors.
But with that success also comes the other side of the coin, that in a classification laden with private schools and other powerhouses from the Atlanta area, Jones County being able to surprise the competition is a thing of the past, especially when it comes time for November’s state championships in Carrollton.
“There’s nowhere to hide anymore, they just have to run the best that they can on that day,” Moore said.
But contending for a state title does not happen overnight in a season, it’s part of an overall campaign that begins with the Fleet Feet Cherokee County Classic on Aug. 16 in Canton. And with that meet, the list of set goals begins for the Greyhounds, one that also includes the Sept. 20 Greyhound Invitational and the GHSA Class AAAA sectional on Nov. 1 that’ll be hosted again this year in Gray.
“We have a checklist: Win the opener, have a certain average time, win our home meet, win the region, win the sectional, and win the last meet,” Moore said. “We’re not going to say state, we call it the last meet. They know that they are running out of chances and have to be prepared. There’s no question if they stay healthy, they will be prepared.”
The importance of staying healthy was hammered home last year when an injury to Gavin Robinson prevented him from finishing the season.
Even though Robinson was able to cheer on his fellow runners, the loss of one of their top-five competitors took a toll over the grind of a season.
“When he got hurt, it took wind from their sails,” Moore said. “He’s their training partner, and all of a sudden you look and he’s not there.”
But Robinson has dug in since then and is now set to go.
“He’s one of the most driven kids that I have seen. He has had some adversity health-wise and has always been the smallest kid and is just a warrior,” Moore said. “He didn’t come back too fast, he just added on and added on mileage and stuck straight to the program. He lives the life of a runner, and that can be hard when you don’t know what is going to happen.”
