Rome, Holder show out at All Area cross country meet
The Wolves and Lady Wolves finish atop the team standings at Georgia Highlands.
The Wolves and Lady Wolves finish atop the team standings at Georgia Highlands.
Every coach hopes the steps and goals they set for their team helps them improve each time they compete. Rome High cross country coach Luis Goya has been working on that process for his runners, and it is yielding results.
Rome swept the team standings of the Rome All Area Championships on an overcast Saturday morning at Georgia Highlands College amid a field of some of the top programs in and around Floyd County.
The Wolves had their five scored runners finish in the top 20 of the boys’ varsity race, paced by senior Sam Pierce who came in second overall with a
time of 17:39, to finish with 52 points.
The Lady Wolves, meanwhile, took three of the top five spots to
edge out East Paulding for first place with a score of 42. Rome’s Sarah Glick (21:07), Nora Bailey (21:14) and Janet Hartman (21:33) finished second, third and fourth overall.
“It’s so exciting. I’m just so proud of us because we’ve been working so hard this season and it’s like it’s finally paying off,” Glick said. “I’m so proud of us because it makes me happy to see that it’s not just one of us doing well, but all of us together are improving consistently.”
Goya admitted he was a bit overwhelmed with his team’s performance, adding that they had worked all summer to get better and put in the work needed to achieve their ultimate goal.
“Yeah, this race was on the way. It was part of the process. But our main goal is to win region, and we are close. We are just a few seconds away from having it,” Goya said. “The dedication, the determination and the fire is there. And that’s what’s changed and makes a different between winning teams and those that are not.”
Darlington’s Maggie Hawkins and Unity Christian’s Maggie Whitehead jumped out ahead of the Rome runners early on, chasing down East Paulding’s Sophia Bethel. The Lady Wolves found their stride through the middle portion of the 5K course and were in place for a solid foundation by the finish.
Hawkins was fifth overall with a time of 21:34, while Whitehead came in eighth at 21:50.
Bethel finished in 20:55 to claim first place overall as her team took second in the scoring with a 51.
Rockmart was third with a 98 and Darlington fourth with a 112.
Armuchee’s Chaney Holder continued his stellar season, winning the boys’ race with a time of 17:22 — 17 seconds ahead of Pierce and 52 seconds better than his finish Tuesday on the same course in the Floyd County Championships.
“The last time we ran here it was hot, and this morning it was cold so I ran a lot better. Just felt a lot better,” Holder said. “It was really good. It was close to my PR, and this is a slower course, so we just have to keep improving until state and hopefully win.”
Calhoun took second in
the team standings with a 78, while Armuchee was third with 103 points. Darlington’s Lawson Blake was fourth overall with a time of 17:50, and Pepperell’s Omar Maldonado finished fifth in 17:54.
Teams are mostly left preparing for their region meets in a couple of weeks.
Most Floyd County teams are set to run the Region 7-AA meet on Oct. 24 while Rome will compete at the Region 7-5A meet on Oct. 26.