Darlington finishes strong at home event
Stephanie Ward wins the girls’ race handily.
With the rain coming down throughout the morning, Darlington ran past the puddles Saturday and into two impressive finishes on the girls’ and boys’ side at the Darlington Cross Country Festival.
Stephanie Ward led the way, taking the individual title on the girls’ side with a 5K time of 19:15. The finish helped the Lady Tigers win the team title for a second year in a row.
Darlington’s young boys’ team finished ninth, but still best among Floyd County schools.
“It’s really one of the best performances you could hope for considering the weather,” Darlington coach Katie Ellis said. “And I really think the weather made things more fun, more cross country.”
After Ellis warned her about good competition, Ward decided to stay with one runner for the first mile. But the pace was simply too slow for her, and she broke away a third of the way through the race and only increased her lead from there.
Ward said the rain never was a huge factor for her, and at some points she enjoyed the conditions. The results of the race proved it, as the senior finished more than a minute ahead of any other runner.
Ward claims she had no idea how far ahead she was. She said it was simply a matter of pushing herself with every stride.
“I tried to listen to the people in the crowd and where they are cheering to know where I am,” Ward said. “I wanted to pay attention so I just concentrated on the (leading) biker and pretended that was a runner.”
Ward’s teammates finished right behind her, with three other Darlington runners finishing in the top 15, including Lilley Washburn in fifth. That core was just enough to allow the Lady Tigers to beat runnerup Decatur by four points and win the title.
On the boys’ side, Darlington’s Lawson Smith finished top among Floyd County runners with a 28thplace finish. The freshman led a squad that finished ninth in the team standings, still ahead of local schools Model, Coosa and Rockmart.
Smith said he was both proud of his teammates and a little surprised at his own performance considering his age.
“I absolutely love it,” Smith said. “It’s so great to be able to be the guy who finishes so high and still be a freshman. Just a great feeling.”
Blake Beavers from Etowah won the boys’ individual title, edging out Sam Ellis from Decatur with a time of 16:50. Kennesaw Mountain took the team title, beating all other opponents by more than 25 points.
Darlington only has a few meets left before the region championships in October, and coach Ellis said it’s time to begin focusing on the larger races.