Jones County’s middle school runners continued their high standard of success at Saturday’s state cross country meet in Cochran with runners from both teams setting high marks in the midst of runners from various parts of the state.
In the girls’ race, Madison Marshall was an impressive second overall, running a 13:16.75. Phoebe Palmer’s time of 14:29.30 gave her a finish of 24th and placed two girls runners in the race’s top 25. Kloe McMillan (15:43.71) was 56th via a time of 15:43.71 followed by Kennedy Marshall in 60th amid a competitive field with a showing of 15:48.22. Lili Cook was 64th at 15:51.24, and Mia Feizet took 100th, running 17:01.89.
In the event’s JV race, Baleigh Gowan took third as she ran 16:19.98, and Audrey Gross’ time of 16:28.64 was good for fifth. Sydney Vaughan (16:40.75) took 10th and Elsie Larson was 59th (21:03.83) in a race that also saw Maddie Kimmel take 68th (23:02.18).
Easton Belshan led the boys’ efforts, finishing 26th overall with a time of 13:01.32 and Cruz Hudgins took 41st overall with a time of 13:25.05. The effort was followed up by finishes of 42nd, 55th, and 74th by Colton Gordon, Brooks Scott, and Spencer Moore with times of 13:25.47, 13:49.25, and 14:17.54. Also leading the way for Jones County were Rhett Renner in 84th (14:31.07), Peyton Simmons in 98th (14:54.61), Bentley Cook in 114th (15:32.90), Elijan Clopton in 118th (16:07.11), and Knox Watson in 123rd (16:19.06). Elijah Massangale also ran 19:49.12 for a placement of 79th in the boys JV race, with Ben Litch being 85th on a time of 20:20.99.
Other top finishers were Wade Smith in 38th (15:54.32) and Kyle Warren in 67th (17:57.28).
