Baylor boys, Heritage girls win weathershortened cross country league meet

With temperatures approaching 90 degrees and a heat index nearing 100, the first Chattanooga Cross Country League meet of the 2014 season at East Ridge’s Camp Jordan was shortened to a two-mile run this past Thursday.

The Baylor boys dominated the field, winning the meet with 31 points. Coahulla Creek was a very distant second with 145 points, followed by Ooltewah with 159.

The Red Raiders also had the day’s individual winner in Alex Sumida, who clocked in at 10:32.

On the girls’ side, Heritage (51 points) edged out Signal Mountain (59) for the team win with Baylor (82) taking third overall.

Mallory Young of Signal Mountain continued her dominance on the trails, winning with a time of 11:59.

LaFayette and Ridgeland were the only two Walker County schools with runners competing in the meet.

Coby Voyles was the fastest of the Walker County boys’ runners as the Ridgeland Panther finished with a time of 13:04.

Also running for the Black-and-White included Jonathan Vidalez (14:09), Austin Cuzzort (14:20), Cole Williams (18:20) and Noah Gray (18:27).

Austin McKin paced the LaFayette varsity boys with a time of 13:09. Eric Hu (13:32), Matthew Newsom (13:53), Ethan Price (14:28), Noah Armstrong (14:53), Zach Matthews (15:02) and Cayd Martin (15:36) rounded out the lineup for the Ramblers.

Hannah Ford, the only female runner for Ridgeland, clocked in

at 18:24, while Casey O’Neill paced the Lady Ramblers with a time of 15:00.

Also competing for LaFayette were Kaci Rogers (16:51), Ali Gilbreath (18:49), Lauren Pike (20:17), Skylar Oxford (20:26), Arianna Moore (20:51) and Tori Hill (22:30).

Among those racing the junior varsity meet for LaFayette were Jett Harrison (14:06), Zach Thompson (16:22), Taylor Veal (17:28), Jess Aldridge (18:06), Jarrod Sitton (18:09), Mason King (18:43), Dakota Mitchell (18:56), Gage Langston (23:04), Lydia Jones (23:34), Amber Abbot (23:50), Skylar Smith (24:00), Tessa Coffey (25:07) and Micaela England (29:23).

Ridgeland had no JV runners in the field.

LaFayette and Ridgeland will be joined by Gordon Lee at Northwest Whitfield Bruin Invitational at Edwards Park on Thursday, starting at 5 p.m.

LaFayette runner Casey O’Neill makes the turn during the first race of the Chattanooga Cross Country League season this past Thursday at Camp Jordan. (Messenger photo/Scott Herpst)