There won’t be a sectionals trophy handed out to the winner on Saturday when Jones County rolls out the purple and gold carpet to host the GHSA Class AAAA sectionals for the second year in a row.
At least, not a physical one.
Inwardly?
There will be plenty for the Greyhounds and Lady Greyhounds to run for.
The agenda will be pretty simple on Saturday for cross country teams from half of the state’s regions. Not only will results determine region team and individual titles in addition to top finishers, but it will also qualify for the Nov. 7 GHSA Class AAAA state championship meet in Carrollton. Saturday’s top 12 finishing teams and top 20 individual runners will qualify for the state meet.
Saturday’s first race is set for 8:45 a.m. with the boys race followed by the JV event. The girls race begins at 9:45 a.m. with a JV girls race to follow.
For a core group of boys runners, Saturday is about making a statement toward something bigger. All season long, they have shown that they can run with the state’s best, even beating out teams such as Pace Academy and Westminster from their own classification. For instance, in the Orthowest, Asics and Coach Wood Invitationals, Jones County has placed in the top five.
But to be in position to do have that performance when it counts, the sectionals come first, where one team Jones County has to contend with is Pace Academy, which took first at last year’s sectionals in Gray.
“You don’t get a trophy at sectionals, so it does not mean a ton, but you want to do well, especially at home,” Jones County head cross country coach Geoff Moore said. “Our seniors want to have a good day, especially with it being at home, so that’ll be important, as well.”
Both the Greyhounds and Lady Greyhounds will be aiming to continue the recent standing of success, having both won three region titles in a four-year span.
On Saturday, both will try to make that four.
For the Lady Greyhounds, Saturday will be about continuing an upward swing. After entering the season having lost most of their returning runners from a season ago, Jones County’s runners have shown steady improvement, placing third or better in their previous two outings.
That momentum will be sought to carry things to another level on Saturday.
