When the Lady Greyhounds came into the cross country season down two of their top runners from last year’s region-title squad, outside observers may have doubted the ability of Jones County to run to a fourth-straight region title.
Those thoughts vanished like the mist hanging over the Jones County Cross Country Course on Saturday morning, as the Lady Hounds not only ran to a fourth region title in a row but also placed fifth overall in the GHSA sectional, more than qualifying them for this Friday’s GHSA Class AAAA state meet in Carrollton.
“They knew what they had to do. It’s a testament to the culture of the program. They didn’t want to be the team that didn’t get the fourth one in a row,” Jones County head cross country coach Geoff Moore said. “They had the pressure on them, but they’re competitors.”
The Lady Hounds led what was a strong region in the sectional made up of half of the state’s AAAA classifications. Of the 12 schools qualifying as a team for the state meet, five were from Jones County’s region.
“Our region got five teams in out of 12,” Moore said. “We had the toughest region in the sectional, and they still won it. It’s impressive.”
Addison Robinson, among the frontrunners as and field made its way up the incline from the starting line on Saturday, finished near that same spot, finishing seventh overall in the sectional and also won a second region championship in a row with her time of 19:35.28.
But in cross country, a team’s odds of finishing well live and die on the depth of an entire roster, and the Lady Hounds showed that on Saturday with not only three runners placing within the region’s top eight individuals but the top-20 overall in the sectional.
Tanner Watts and Mary Barnwell ran 21:08.28 and 21:13.80 to finish 19th and 20th while also finishing fifth and sixth in the region. Macie White’s 21:36.21 earned an eighthplace finish in the region and 29th in the sectional, and the sectional finishes of Makenzie Snook and Catelen Myers in 47th and 48th on times of 22:52.08 and 22:57.26 helped cement the Lady Hounds’ overall as both were 14th and 15th in the region, as well.
“These girls have come a long way. They’ve had the adversity of (losing) two of the top three and then going from ‘what are we gonna do?’ and then telling them that they can do it. They bought in and improved.”
The Lady Greyhounds shined in the JV race as well, led by Phoebe Palmer finishing second and Kloe McMillan as well as Kennedy Marshall finishing 17th and 18th.
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