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Tabor, Coody run at regional meet

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By Sam Waller

Albany’s Jonathan Coody and Briley Tabor faced less-than-ideal conditions and strong competition at the Region II-2A cross country meet Monday, Oct. 24 at Grand Prairie’s Lynn Creek Park at Joe Pool Lake.

Coach Ginger Norton said heavy rains during the Class 6A and 4A races earlier in the day left the course sloppy.

“By the time we got to run, it was muddy and slippery,” she said. “The rain did let up while we ran, so that helped.”

Norton said both Albany runners had to contend with much larger fields than they were used to, making for crowded conditions.

“A lot of the time, they were just trying to get through the traffic,” she said.

Coody finished 68th out of 150 runners in the boys race, covering the five-kilometer course in 20 minutes, 16.93 seconds. The placing was eight spots back of where Coody finished last year as a freshman, but his time was 46 seconds faster.

“Jonathan ran well,” Norton said. “He said he had a hard time reaching out more because it was so wet.”

Coody qualified for regional with a sixth place finish at the District 10-2A meet earlier this month. On Monday, he was eighth among 10-2A runners.

Hawley finished fourth in the team standings to qualify for state. Three Bearcat runners finished high enough to qualify as individuals had the team not advanced. Haskell finished 13th out of 21 teams in the field.

Tabor, a senior competing at regional for the first time, finished 116th out of 170 runners in the girls race with a time of 15:25.53.

“Briley didn’t run her best time, but she stayed up there in the pack,” Norton said. “It was a good experience for her and a great way to finish her year.”

After finishing seventh at the district meet to qualify, Tabor was 16th among 10-2A entries.

Haskell’s Agatha Skelton and Asia Billington qualified for state as individuals after placing 13th and 15th, respectively. Haskell was seventh among 23 teams with Anson finishing 10th and Hamlin 13th.

The meet ended the season for Albany runners.

“I want to thank all the parents and others who showed their support for cross country,” Norton said.