CCHS Cross County Runs Toward First Regional

TONY STINNETT, Courier Co-Editor


With the postseason barreling down, Cannon County's cross-country teams hoped to accelerate their momentum at the Forrest Invitational Oct. 8.

Both teams participated in the Forrest Invitational at Henry Horton State Park. It provided an opportunity for the Cannon County teams to measure their improvement after having run an earlier race at Henry Horton. It served as the final competition before the Mid State Championship at Sharp Springs in Smyrna Saturday (Oct. 15).

Each squad trimmed significant time from its earlier meet at Henry Horton. The girls cut approximately seven minutes off of their total times from the previous meet, and the boys improved by approximately 11 minutes.

"Both teams have continued to work hard and trim times off of their races," CCHS Head Cross-Country Coach Marc Larson said. "We faced some tough competition in this meet so it was a good showing, overall, for our teams."

The Lionettes continued to garner positive results, finishing fourth overall against the tough competition. They finished ahead of Senaca East out of Ohio. Rossview won the meet with 33 points, followed by Columbia (51), Fairview (92), and Cannon County (101).

Cannon County had five in the top 30 of the 66-person field. Macy Clements led the Lionettes and finished 11th overall with a time of 23:09.20. She just nipped teammate Hannah Faulkner, who was 12th with a 23:11.62. Madison Walkup continued to be a consistent contributor, finishing 24th with a 25:27.20, while Sara Hickman's 25:52.48 was 25th. Lauren Simmons rounded out the scoring with a 26:00.30. She was 29th overall.

Also participating for Cannon County were Lauren Turney and Savannah Bailey.

The boys finished 11th out of the 14-team field but players showed individual improvement across the board. Senaca East (Ohio) won the meet with 21 points.

Jordan Turney was Cannon County's top runner, finishing 23rd out of the 136 participants. Clay Luker (49th, 21:21.08), Mathew Turney (67, 22:22.94), Will Bailey (68, 22:30.88) and Wesly Alexander (72, 22:59.22) produced points for the Lions.

Also participating for Cannon County were T.J. Paul (23:25.39), Luke Turney (24.42.92), C.J. Hatfield (26:55.47), Jefferey Northcutt (28:01.41), Brandon Harper (28:27.08) and Ethan Bryson (22.48.20).

Cannon County will compete in its first ever Regional at Chickamauga Dam near Chattanooga Oct. 27.