The original plan for Jones County’s lead up to the GHSA state sectionals on their home course Nov. 2 was to get rest coming off of fall break and head to Bleckley County next weekend.
But when the Coach Wood Invitational, a field filled with teams from the Atlanta area extended last-minute invite, it was an opportunity that head coach Geoff Moore could not pass up.
So instead of running on a more sandy course in Cochran, the Greyhounds and Lady Greyhounds got a stern test at just the right time this past weekend, and the Greyhounds met the challenge head-on, with the boys finishing seventh overall and fourth among AAAA schools as five of the seven boys runners set personal record times.
“Mill Creek invited us. The schedule is so different this year since they moved state back a week,” Moore said. “But after we got the invite, the thought was that it’d be nice to have the week off (this weekend). It ended up working out really well for us.”
The Greyhounds’ top five runners each turned in times of 16:31 or faster, led by Luke Thornton’s 19th-place 19:42.69 that was also a county record. It came in a field stacked with teams that are usually frontunners at the state meet, such as Harrison, West Forsyth, Marist, Cambridge and Pace Academy.
“In a race like this, there’s nowhere to hide,” Moore said. “You really get to see what you have.”
Tyler Marshall was next behind for JCHS with a run of 16:07.87 in 52nd. Shaun Williams, who filled in around the seventh of eighth spot on the Greyhounds roster two months ago, continued his late-season push, timing in with a seasonbest 16:21,64 to finish 68th.
“This kid was my seventh of eighth runner; now he’s our third-best one,” Moore said. “He’s running two minutes better than he did last year. The kids are stepping up.”
Adding to the strong showing was Grady Newby’s season-best 16:22.48 at 70th overall in front of Andrew Marshall’s 16:31.06, also a season best. Clay Lacy and Chase Hamm also had season-best runs. Lacy’s run was remarkable given that, one mile into the race, the back of one of his feet got spiked by another runner, and Lacy simply ran the rest of the race with one shoe.
“It was really a blessing for us to be invited. They needed this go against this big competition,” Moore said. “Just to be in this race with those kids and for them to do it this time of year, it shows all the hard work they do when nobody was watching.”
The Lady Hounds posted three seasonbests themselves, pacing to a finish of 17th out of 40 elite teams. Addison Robinson, Isabella Sanchez and Camryn Wommack came home with those seasonbests, posting times of 18:58.11, 19:22.02 and 20:09.14 to finish 29th, 48th and 95th alongside Lilly Palmer running a 19:59.55 to finish 80th in the race with Tanner Watts timing in at 21:30.60. Lilly Tanner also ran to a personal best time.
“Addison, she finally busted out and had a big day. Her, Camryn and Isabella had a big day for us,” Moore said. “They’re looking forward to having Pace Academy here. They’re looking forward to that challenge.”
