Messenger file photo by Chris McCarthy
By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor
Glencoe’s Katie Giles (pictured above) won the girls’ event and the Southside boys finished first at the Pleasant Valley Twilight 5K on October 8.
It was Giles’ fourth victory of the season. She clocked in at 20:07.06, a minute and 29 seconds faster than runner-up Camryn Davis of Southside. Also finishing on the top 10 were Southside’s Zoie Menk at 22:06.45 and Glencoe’s Allie Jo Amos at 24:06.03.
The Lady Panthers came in second place as a team with an average time of 23:31.45. Glencoe took third place with an average time of 25:07.72.
The Southside boys’ average time of 18:10.14 was more than 40 seconds better than runner-up Pleasant Valley. Four Panthers turned in top 10 performances, led by runner-up Ryan Maudsley at 17:43.72. Southside also claimed three of the next five spots with Jackson Griggs in third at 17:48.04, Will Anglea in fourth at 17:57.08 and Luke Holcombe in seventh at 18:05.73.
Hokes Bluff’s Sam Green finished fifth at 18:01.22, while Gadsden City’s Tanner Rice came in eighth at 18:12.96.
Posting top 25 efforts in the girls’ race were Southside’s Mallory Rich in 11th place (24:10.33); Hokes Bluff’s Kiera Johnson in 14th place (24:26.85); Southside’s Sara Burger (24:47.76), Enslee Clough (24:56.40) and Mallory Tucker (25:08.19) in 16th, 17th and 18th place, respectively; Hokes Bluff’s Elizabeth Edge in 19th place (25:08.24); Southside’s Katie Ogle in 23rd place (25:46.90); and Glencoe’s Elizabeth Harrison in 24th place (25:48.72).
Boys top 20 finishers were Southside’s Sam Kilgo in 15th place (19:16.11), Southside’s Parker Cunningham in 19th place (19:25.76) and Hokes Bluff’s Harrison Millander in 20th place
(19:29.55).