Photo: Ashville High’s Taylor Knight crosses the finish line first out of 80 runners at the Twilight Invite 5K on October 7 at Pleasant Valley. (Chris McCarthy/Messenger)
By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor
The Southside girls and Ashville boys took home the top honors at the Pleasant Valley Twilight Invite 5K on October 7.
The Lady Panthers edged Glencoe in points, 50 to 55. The Bulldogs average time of 18:32.32 was 20 seconds faster than runner-up Southside (18:42.64). The Gadsden City’ boys’ average time of 20:27.48 was good for fourth place.
Ashville’s Taylor Knight posted the top girls’ time, crossing the finish line at 20:43.60. It was the third win of the season for Knight, who currently is the second-ranked girls runner in Class 4A.
Six local runners filled out the top 10. Glencoe’s Katie Giles clocked in at third place at 22:09.50, followed by Southside’s Alexis Valentine in fourth at 23:05.70, Southside’s Mallory Rich in sixth at 23:32.90, Glencoe’s Alli Jo Amos in eight at 23:44.60, Glencoe’s Sarah Ponder in ninth at 23:53.71 and Southside’s Mallory Tucker in 10th at 24:03.10.
The top boys’ performance came from Southside’s Luke Holcomb, whose time of 17:19.20 put him at runner-up behind Pleasant Valley’s Cayden Nelson (17:02.30).
Ashville’s Joe Stevens and Wyatt Knight finished third (17:27.60) and fourth (17:45.00), respectively. Gadsden City’s Tanner Rice came in fourth at 17:56.20, followed by Southside’s Ryan Maudsley in sixth at 18:04.90, Southside’s Evan Christopher in seventh at 18:26.10, Ashville’s Ashton Vann in eighth at 18:50.70 and Ashville’s Clayton Knight in ninth at 18:59.00.
Area girls who posted top 25 times were Hokes Bluff’s Elizabeth Edge in 11th at 24:21.00, Ashville’s Kathleen McCarthy in 13th at 24:45.70, Southside’s Taylor Dortch in 14th at 24:55.80, Glencoe’s Chloe Douglas in 15th at 25:06.70, Southside’s Sydney Hughes in 16th at 25:23.50, Southside’s Zoie Menk in 17th at 25:25.70, Southside’s Katie Ogle in 18th at 25:34.70, Southside’s Lacey Rich in 20th 25:53.40, Southside’s Adylyn Phillips in 21st at 26:01.20, Glencoe’s Anna Ponder in 23rd at 26:05.80 and Glencoe’s Jaxon Sizemore in 24th at 26:12.80.
Local Top 25 boys’ efforts were Gadsden City’s Mithun Ranmeshkumar in 14th place at 19:25.10, Gadsden City’s Dhruve Patel in 15th at 19:30.70, Ashville’s Bruce Pantoja in 16th at 19:39.30, Hokes Bluff’s Mason Miller in 17th at 19:49.00, Southside’s Parker Cunningham in 18th at 19:50.10, Southside’s Max Valentine in 19th at 19:52.90, Hokes Bluff’s Bryer Morrison in 23rd at 20:09.17 and Glencoe’s Connor Cothran in 24th at 20:10.40.
Helping the Southside girls were Maddie-Kate Chandler (28:21.50), Enslee Clough (30:16.80), Dee Shelnut (30:40.60), Haley Powers (30:43.50), Karly Barber (30:49.90), Kennedy Hood (31:25.80), Katie Hughes (32:12.30), Hannah Stanfield (35:40.50), Sissilia Cornejo (36:46.80) and Alyssa Holland (39:43.60).
Also running for the Ashville boys were Walker Griffith (20:43.00), Greyson Simpson (20:54.50), Carter Jones (21:28.60), Kanyon White (23:53.40), Maddox Vann (25:17.80) and Austin Reynolds (26:19.00).