HOME MEET ON SATURDAY
For most meets, JCHS cross country runners get up early on a Saturday morning for a long bus ride to compete. That drive will be a whole lot shorter this weekend when Jones County hosts the Greyhound Invitational on its home course.
“It’s a big deal, but this year is a little more special,” Greyhounds head coach Geoff Moore said. “Usually, we have 15-20 teams, but this year we’ll have about 30 or 35 and about 15-20 middle school teams.”
This will be the course’s fifth year at the current location, and the field will be larger than usual. One reason for that is that JCHS will host this year’s region meet in late October, prompting teams from the region to enter for no other reason than to get a look at a course that they have not yet raced on.
Teams entered include multiple ones from Henry County and Laurens County that include two from the Greyhounds region – Ola and Eagles Landing.
“Region is here this year, so a lot of these teams want to preview our course so they know what to expect,” Moore said.
One thing that sets the Greyhounds home course apart, Moore says is that it’s a standalone facility. While some schools’ cross country events take place on a school campus and include a terrain that entails something like another athletic field or bus lot, the Greyhounds home course is an off-campus facility owned by the school system.
“It’s a standalone facility. Most courses are on a school campus around softball field or on a bus lot or are in a public park. Ours is a school-owned cross country facility,” Moore said. “That’s a special thing. The school system has given us everything we need to put on a great show.”
