Teams from throughout the southeast found themselves at last weekend’s Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, N.C. Needless to say, with teams from around 15 states on hand, the stage was a bright one.
Jones County’s cross country teams thrived under that spotlight, with the boys winning second in their division with the Lady Hounds finishing third. Addison Robinson turned in season-best time of 18:59.20 to finish seventh overall in her race with the Greyhounds top individual being Luke Thornton’s 12th-place 16:07.60.
“The course is not easy and not fast, even though we ran pretty well on it. We didn’t run a perfect race, but we competed well. There’s nothing but good teams there,” Jones County head coach Geoff Moore said. “They ran against some really good teams and saw teams that they’ll never see again. They got to meet some new kids and saw what big-time cross country is all about. It was good experience for them.”
Competing at an event like last weekend’s may be welltimed for JCHS given that GHSA sections, which Jones County will host, is Nov. 2.
“The more you get you kids on a big stage, the better they will perform on a big stage in the future,” Moore said. “The more you do it, the more it helps them.”
And given that numerous college coaches were on hand, competing in Cary, N.C., does nothing but improve college prospects for JCHS runners, especially with Robinson’s sub-19-minute time.
“Addison ran the race of her life. She’ll get some looks after this because this is a course where lots of teams in the Carolinas race,” Moore said.
But there was much more to Jones County’s showing than two individuals. In the girls race, Lilly Palmer’s 19:48.90 was good for 25th and Isabella Sanchez timing in 30th at 19:55.70. Other top finishers for the Lady Hounds came from Camryn Wommack in 77th with a run of 20:55.80 and Tanner Watts’s season best 21:18.40, finishing 97th.
For the Greyhounds, Tyler Marshall was 43rd as he ran a 16:34.30, just ahead of Grady Newby in 52nd as he ran 16:43.00. Shaun Williams timed in 65th at16:52.20 ahead of Andrew Marshall in 79th with a showing of 16:58.90 and a season-best time of 17:08.80 by Clay Lacy in 98th.
“For them to go somewhere out of state with a nice hotel, nice restaurant and nice meal, it’s kind of a reward thing for them,” Moor said. “It’s good for recruiting younger kids when they see us going to a meet like this.”
