2 cross country runners advance to regional
By Sam Waller
Albany’s Briley Tabor and Jonathan Coody qualified for regional competition with their performances at the District 6-2A cross country meet Wednesday, Oct. 12 at Anson.
The pair will compete at the Region II-2A meet on Monday, Oct. 24 at Grand Prairie’s Lynn Creek Park at Joe Pool Lake. The girls race is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. with the boys at 12:40 p.m.
The Athletic Booster Club has scheduled a send-off at the Bank Park downtown on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 10:30 a.m.
“Our runners did well, and all had personal-best times at district,” coach Ginger Norton said. “I’m proud of these cross country runners’ season. They have worked hard since Aug.1.”
Coody, a sophomore, qualified for the second year in a row by finishing sixth in the varsity boys race with a time of 19 minutes, 5 seconds. Coody said having qualified last year was no guarantee of advancing this time.
“There were more than double the entries this time,” he said. “There were 11 last year, so there was only one person who didn’t qualify. There were 26 runners this year.”
Coody said once he was in the flow of the race, the task became easier.
“I’d say most of (qualifying) doesn’t happen on the course,” he said. “Most of it happens on the sidewalk when you’re training with your team. Most of it happens in the morning when you get up and decide to get stuff done.
Tabor, a senior, qualified for the first time after coming close the last two years. She finished seventh among 48 entries in the varsity girls race in 14:12.
“It was a relief because it was my senior year,” she said.”I feel like every year I’ve had to increase the amount of hard work I put into it. Knowing I was a senior put a lot of pressure on me and my teammates. I knew I was pushing everybody else and myself at the same time.”
Tabor used a strong finish to move into the top 10 and earn a regional berth.
“At the beginning, I started out slow so I could pick off girls one at a time,” she said. “In the middle, I was kind of worried because I was at the back, like 25th. I knew I had to kick it in that last 800 meters if I wanted a spot for regional.”
Also running in the varsity boys race were Brayden Watson (13th, 21:18), Jayce Tinkle (20th, 22:25) and Landon Kreitler (24th, 24:42).
Other results for the varsity girls were Sidney Russell (14th, 14:29), Avery Everitt (27th, 15:31) and Maci Hatchett (35th, 15:59).
In the JV girls race, which had 30 runners, sophomore Myleigh Leveridge earned a medal by placing fourth in 16:25. Jaci Chapman finished 20th in 22:05.
