The 2017 Catoosa/Walker County Cross Country Dream Team

Look up the definition of “hard work” in the dictionary and it’s possible you may find a photo of LFO’s Erik Martinez next to it.

The junior has been a cross country standout for the Red-and-White ever since he arrived on campus as a freshman and he continued to set the pace for the Warriors again in 2017.

Martinez picked up a Chattanooga Area Cross Country League meet win at Grove Level in Whitfield County early in the season, clocking in with a 17:40, and he finished the year with an average time of 17:37.

Among his achievements were a personal-best 17:26 at the Front Runner Championships at Baylor, a fourth-place finish at the Region 6-AAA meet (17:46) and a third consecutive berth in the state finals, where he continued to climb the ladder.

His 17:36 that day in Carrollton gave him a 15th place overall finish and marked the second straight year in which he has improved on his state final placement from the previous year.

“It makes me feel great,” Martinez said of being named the Catoosa County Boys’ Cross Country Runner of the Year for 2017. “I feel like I put in the work every day and everyone around me also helped and encouraged me to do better all the time.”

Martinez’s steady gains on the course are a product of his dedication to the sport, which began for him in the eighth grade.

“My friend (and LFO teammate), Javier Gomez, encouraged me to run and from then on, I’ve just loved running every day,” he explained. “It was something to do and my

has helped me a lot and it’s going to help me get into college, but the friendships I have made have been the best part about cross country.”

“Alex received the team’s Legacy Award this year as a reflection of what she has meant to the program for the past four years and she was a captain this year,” Wynne explained. “She kind of set the culture for the program and she’ll be really hard to

replace.”

Carpenter, her classmate, averaged 22:30 for the season and clocked in a seasonbest 21:30 at the Front Runner Championships at Baylor. She ended the season with a ninthplace showing at the 6-AAAA meet (22:13) and crossed the tape in 22:37 at state.

“It was a good year,” said Carpenter, who is also a standout on the soccer field. “We had a lot of fun and it was a really good team. I’ll miss the family atmosphere here. We’re just really close and

I’ve made really good friends on this team.”

Gass is planning on running in college at Dalton State, while Carpenter added that she is considering joining the Roadrunners as an option post-high school.

“What I said about Alex and I can really say the same thing about Caylee,” Wynne continued. “She was our co-captain this year and she and Alex kind of came up together. She’s a hard worker and really seems to love the sport. She is also a really solid allaround kid. They are my athletes, but there’s also a friendship there too and it’s been fun to see that develop over the course of the last few years. Their parents have been great supporters of the program as well. Both of them will be missed.”

Craft consistently saw her times drop throughout the 2017 season and she saved her best for last.

A 21:34 at the region meet earned her fifth place overall and served as her fastest time of the year. She followed up that performance by

running a 22:37 at state and was the top finisher for the Lady Generals that day in Carrollton. She ended the year with an average time of 22:40.

She also termed 2017 as “a good year”.

“We didn’t do exactly what we wanted, but we put in some really good effort and it was a really positive season,” she explained. “My mom told me I had the ability be able to run with the high school team this year. There’s a lot more people at the high school races, but as the year went on I got used to it. You just

have to go out there and concentrate.”

“Coming from running two-mile races in middle school to running 5K’s in high school is a big adjustment,” Wynne said. “She was good at the beginning of the season and she gradually got better to the point where she was one of top runners at the end of the year. But Allison is a really determined kid with a lot of grit and you could see that in practice, so it really wasn’t a surprise by the end of the year.”