Messenger file photo by Chris McCarthy
By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor
Several area runners finished at the head of the pack at the AHSAA state cross country meet last Saturday (Nov. 6) at Oakville. The top 15 in each classification made the all-state team.
Not including Ashville’s Joe Stevens’ Class 4A state title, top 10 performers included Ashville’s Taylor Knight and Wyatt Knight, who both came in eighth in Class 4A with respective times of 20:06.78 and 16:55.44. The 4A girls had 155 runners, while the boys had 170. The Ashville girls finished sixth out of 17 teams.
Southside’s Jackson Griggs (pictured above) finished ninth out of 248 runners in Class 6A boys with a time of 15:56.07.
Glencoe’s Katie Giles, the defending Class 3A girls’ champion, finished two seconds out of the top 10 with an 11th place time of 20:32.26 out of 161 runners.
Top 25 efforts included Ashville Kathleen McCarthy at 21st (21:29.33) in 4A girls and Sardis’ Barit Snead at 24th (21:34.11) in Class 5A girls out of 151 runners.
Glencoe’s Sarah Ponder finished just outside of the top 25 with a 26th place time of 21:20.37.
