Keeping on rolling: Greyhounds first, Lady Hounds third in Bleckley

CROSS COUNTRY

  • The Greyhounds took _rst at the Bleckley County Invitational last week, giving them another meet victory. CONTRIBUTED
    The Greyhounds took _rst at the Bleckley County Invitational last week, giving them another meet victory. CONTRIBUTED
  • The Lady Hounds pose after a hard-fought _nish of third place against stout competition in Bleckley County. CONTRIBUTED
    The Lady Hounds pose after a hard-fought _nish of third place against stout competition in Bleckley County. CONTRIBUTED

    On Oct. 22, the Greyhounds and Lady Greyhounds will aim for a region title on their home course, so these next few weeks are key in terms of firing up a steam of momentum going into that weekend.

    That path continued last Thursday at the Bleckley County Invitational.

    The Greyhounds took first overall, having an average time that was one minute quicker than the next-closest finisher. Not only that, but of the meet’s top seven boys finishers, three were from Jones County.

    “We finished second to Southeast Bulloch there last year. We went down there really confident, and they just competed,” Jones County head coach Geoff Moore said. “They went in there and accomplished every goal that we had.”

    At the forefront was Austin Sullivan, who powered to the first-place finish with a time of 18:03.29.

    “He’s back. He just had to get some things worked out. He’s got it going on, now,” Moore said.

    Kyle Whipple ran an 18:30.60, good for sixth, just ahead of Joshua Barber and a time of 18:33.31. One spot behind him in eighth was Luke Thornton with a time of 18:41.38. In 11th was Tyler Marshall as he ran a 18:52.93 with Grady Newby’s 18:53.76 earning a finish of 12th. Justus Boyd was 16th with a time of 19:07.10 with Gavin Robinson and Landon Steinmeyer finishing 17th and 19th with times of 19:11.79 and 19:18.66.

    With Camryn Wommack finishing fourth and Lilly Palmer being eight with times of 21:47.28 and 23:12.14, the Lady Hounds finishing third in a highly competitive race.

    “Bleckley will win their classification and Mary Persons is a top-five team; they’re just more talented than us,” Moore said.

    Addison Robinson was 15th as she ran a 23:56.08 in front of Katlin Malone in 18th with a time of 24:05.43 with the top finishers being rounded out by Anna Hinson in 19th with a time of 24:15.00 The showings by Hinson and Gabrielle Childs, who set a personal record in 34th with a time of 25:45.45, further showed the capability of the Lady Hounds beyond their top one of two runners.

    “Anna Grace Hinson had a great race. It’s the best race she had all year,” Moore said. “Childs was our only one with a PR. She’s our fifth girl, and it’s big for her to do that.”

    Both teams had Monday and Tuesday off from team workouts before resuming Wednesday and Thursday prior to what will amount to an intra-squad scrimmage race Friday.