Cross Country Teams Starts Season at Spring Hill Invitational
The boys and girls Cross Country teams started their season at the third annual Spring Hill Invitational held at Lear Park in Longview on Saturday, September 4th. The girls varsity team placed fifth and the varsity boys placed seventh as a team. The girls were paced by Junior Brianne Mathews’ 13th place finish. Mathews’ completed the course in a time of 12:33, and was closely followed by Jess McNew in 12th place, 12:34. Paige Maly finished in 12:58 for 22nd place and Shandee Lynn raced to a time of 13:23 for 39th place. Lauren Berry, 47th place, and Elizabeth Horne, 61st place, rounded out the girls runners in times of 13:34 and 14:12. The girls race saw 101 competitors from all classifications. Alyssa Mathews competing in her first race of her career, placed 29 with a time of 15:17 in the junior varsity division. The girls raced well for their first meet of the season. They have worked hard since early August in preparation for the 2010 season.
The boys varsity team will have many new faces this season. Rookie Sophomores Skylar Sutton and Jonathan Spedowski paced the boys in the first race of the season. Sutton led the way with an 18thplace finish in 17:37. He was followed by Spedowski in 26th with a time of 17:56. Senior Cory Jones placed 48th in a time of 18:53 followed by Austin Jordan, 53rd, 19:07, and Jerred Whisenhunt, 19:23, 60th rounded out the team scoring for the Roughnecks. Senior Calob Player, 19:29, finished 62ndand Sophomore Carter Tackett, 71st, 19:53, out of 107 competitors. The boys had five of seven runners competing in their first race. It is always a good feel to start the season and get at least one race under your belt. This year’s boys team has more depth and talent then in recent year’s. I’m looking forward to seeing what the 2010 season has in store for them as a team.
The junior varsity boys were paced by Clay Hunter sixth place finish in a time of 18:42 followed by Greyson Jones in 15th, 20:04. Jordan DeAguero, 21:14, and Chase Robinson, 21:20, finished in 28th and 30th respectively. Mickey McFall, 22:49 and Bryson White 23:40 completed the junior varsity runners. The team placed 4th with a score of 69 points.
The teams will travel to the University at Tyler to compete in the Tyler Lee Country Classic on Saturday, September 11th . This is one of the biggest meets of the season with several high school races as well as a college division. The course is a relatively flat and grassy and the runners will face some hills as they wind through the campus terrain. The races will begin at 8:45 with the varsity girls division followed by the varsity boys and junior varsity runners.