Greyhounds romp to win in South Georgia events; Lady Hounds place second

CROSS COUNTRY HOUNDS

  • Scan the QR code above a video interview with JCHS cross country head coach Geo_ Moore about Saturday’s Greyhound Invitational”.
    Scan the QR code above a video interview with JCHS cross country head coach Geo_ Moore about Saturday’s Greyhound Invitational”.

    Before last week’s South Georgia Championships in Hazelhurst, a stated goal for the Greyhounds was to pursue the standard of being the top team outside the Atlanta area.

    Consider that goal captured.

    With an average time of under 18 minutes, the Greyhounds took first last Thursday with three runners within the top eight, led by Kyle Whipple’s second-place finish of 17:36.89. Two spots back in fourth was Justus Boyd, whose 17:46.61 captured the spot four positions ahead of Joshua Barber, who came in just above the 18-minute threshold with a time of 18:01.53.

    “It’s hard to ask for much better than that,” Jones County head coach Geoff Moore said. “To do that on a course that we’d never been to and to do it when it’s around 90 degrees, we’re really excited about that.”

    But there was far more to the Greyhounds effort than a few runners. Gavin Robinson was 14th with a time of 18:14.76, Tyler Marshall ran an 18:17.84, one spot ahead of Grady Newby and his time of 18:18.38 and Austin Sullivan’s 18:41.84 that was good for 19th.

    The Lady Hounds finished second overall, just 45 seconds out of first place. Camryn Wommack ran a 20:56.73 to finish fourth, and Lilly Palmer timed in tenth with a 22:09.13. Coming in 15th with Addison Robinson with a time of 22:30.00 and Katlin Malone ran a 23:30.17 to come in 25th. One spot behind her was Anna Hinson by way of a time of 23:32.56. Addison Newby and Emily Patat placed 31st and 38th with times of 24:08.10 and 24:20.70.

    “To go down there after a two-hour drive on a course you have never been on where it’s 90 degrees, to run those times, that’s impressive,” Moore said.

    JCHS took a large balance of its roster on the road last week to Hazelhurst, and those runners that may not be among upper portion of the lineup did not back down from the challenge either. Jones County took first as a team in the JV boys race with Gabrielle Childs finishing third in the JV girls race, Raelei Roeder being 14th and Grace Bryant 18th.

    In the JV boys race, Jones County had seven of the top ten finishers, led by Luke Thornton in second and Landon Steinmeyer in third. Gunner Kent was fifth, Aaron England was sixth, Clay Lacy was seventh, Andrew Marshall was ninth and Connor Monile came in 10th.

    “The depth on this team is amazing,” Moore said.