NICHOLSON — In a classification top-heavy with private schools from the Atlanta area, it would be accurate to say that schools like Jones County go into the state meet feeling a bit like going to a gunfight armed with a pocketknife.
But when it came to the girls’ portion of the GHSA Class AAAA state championships that was contested mostly in rainy or threatening conditions last weekend at East Jackson High School, the Lady Greyhounds had a sound option as Addison Robinson ran to a pair of top-10 finishes among the state’s best runners.
“It’s a really good feeling,” Robinson said.
After coming in eighth in Friday’s 1600-meter run via a time of 5:08.86, Robinson was able to use that experience as an advantage on Saturday.
“It helped. I saw what I could learn from and the mistakes I made in the 1600,” Robinson said. “In the 3200, I kind of knew what I needed to do.”
In that 3200-meter run, Robinson used an early surge of being among the front two or three for the first few laps to come in seventh with a time of 11:06.58.
“It’s a huge deal. She ran big in both (events), and that’s all you can ask,” JCHS track coach Geoff Moore said. “This classification is unbelievable. Just to compete with those kids, it’s amazing. She is right on Erin Leonard’s heels for the best all-time at Jones County. It’s fun to watch.”
In the boys 4x800 relay, the team of Clay Lacy, Grady Newby, Andrew Marshall and Shaun Williams placed 12th.
How robust is the competition in AAAA compared to where both teams were a year ago in AAAAA? Consider that Robinson finished behind a combined seven runners from private schools in both of her events with the boys relay team also timing in behind three private schools. Robinson finished fourth a year ago in the 1600 meters, and despite improving her time in this year’s state meet approximately five seconds, finished eighth this year.
In addition, while JCHS qualified six athletes and four relay teams for this year’s state meet, it had one relay team and two individuals this year.
Due to that rigor of competition, Moore says that runners holding their own in the current AAAA classification means a bit more.
“We do time goals. We don’t worry about placing as much,” Moore said. “I’d rather have her times in this class than the places in other classifications.”
