GLHS runners set new cross country marks in Rome

Records, as they say, are made to be broken.

And on Saturday, at the Ridge Ferry Cross Country Invitational in Rome, Gordon Lee broke a couple of them.

Gracie O’Neal and Jasper Wilson set new school records for the 5K event, bettering marks that had stood for several years.

O’Neal, last year’s Walker County Female Athlete of the Year, may be in the middle of volleyball season with the Lady Trojans, but with no volleyball matches scheduled for Saturday, she strapped on her running shoes and obliterated the old Gordon Lee mark.

The sophomore, whose best time a year ago was 24:00 even, crossed the finish line in a blistering 18:19 on Saturday. Not only did she win the race by nearly 12 seconds over Pickens’ Faith Bobak, she broke Camilla Loggins’ school record of 20:14, set back in 2011.

O’Neal’s win in the girls’ varsity race helped the Lady Trojans to 170 points and a very respectable fifth place overall finish out of 22 teams in the field. Etowah won the team title with 76 points, followed by Rome (112), River Ridge (153) and Northwest Whitfield (164).

Five other Lady Trojans finished in the top 60 of the 184 runners that were entered in the race. Senior Riley Cash was 32nd overall with a 22:17, followed by senior Katelyn Gilliam in 39th place (22:28). Junior Kaylen Jackson (22:59) was 51st, freshman Grayson Alexander (23:05) was 56th and sophomore Taylor McAllister (23:10) was 59th.

Also racing for Gordon Lee was junior Emma Cate Dendy (24:27), junior Chanler Hysell (25:25) and senior Michaela Russell (25:38).

Meanwhile, in the boys’ varsity race, Wilson took sixth overall, but his 16:52 was three seconds faster than the previous record of 16:55, set by Dylan Smith at the Front Runner Championships at Baylor back in October 2013. Smith went on to win the Class A Public School state title a few weeks later and later signed with Dalton State.

Sophomore Ian Goodwin was 24th overall out of the 217 runners in the field with a 17:39, while freshman Jake Lee was 35th, clocking in at 17:53. Also competing for the Trojans was senior Cole Collins (21:22), junior Jagger Martin (22:50), junior Michael Hubona (22:54) and sophomore Alex Stone (24:45).

As a team, Gordon Lee placed 15th in the 28-team field with 394 points. Etowah won with 47 points, followed by River Ridge (106) and Calhoun (121).

In the JV girls’ race, sophomores Kylie Walker (31:42), Makenzie Bailey (32:01) and Lexi Tennant (32:02) competed for Gordon Lee, as did junior Drew Presnell (34:28). Eighth grader Tanner Wilson (21:25) ran for the Trojans in the boys’ JV race.