Most of the cross country season sees the Greyhounds and Lady Greyhounds cross country runners either rise in the pre-dawn hours or spend the night before a meet on the road to get ready to compete out of town in various meets.
On Saturday, teams from various parts of the state will be coming to Jones County. A power-packed field within the boys and girls ranks will be on hand for Saturday’s Rancher’s Release The Hounds Invitational with runners in varsity, JV, and middle school races taking to the course.
The high school runners will take on the 5K course, the same one that’ll once again host November’s GHSA Class 4A sectionals with the middle school events running a two-mile length.
The fact that Jones County will once again host the sectionals has drawn teams from not just central Georgia and Henry County, but other parts of the state as well with schools from as north as Dacula, westward near Columbus, and as far south as Ware County being among the entrants. Those teams from west Georgia also include Harris County and Starr’s Mill in a field that’ll also include private school frontrunners like Stratford and FPD.
Needless to say, the Greyhounds and Lady Greyhounds won’t just get the opportunity to run close to home in front of friends and family but will also get yet another strong test during a gauntlet of competition geared toward having them ready for sectionals on Nov. 1 that will determine not just region champions, but state qualifiers as well.
That influx of teams has also split out how Saturday will be set up. After the first two races of the morning at 8:15 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. among schools from larger classifications that will include JCHS, a pair of races for the private schools and teams from smaller classifications will follow before JV races at 10:15 a.m. and 11 a.m., with the event being closed out by middle school events at 11:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.
