McCallie runner Dylan
Carmack finishes fourth
with a time of 15:56.80 in
the McCallie Cross Country
Invitational on Saturday.
His team was sixth.
South Forsyth runner Savannah Carnahan crosses the finish line first with a time of 17:33.16 at the McCallie Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, at Moccasin Bend.In a loaded field Saturday at the McCallie Invitational, the Baylor, GPS and McCallie cross country teams all had top-10 finishes.
Those four teams and Hixson were the area representatives on the Moccasin Bend course. The Baylor girls had the best area finish, taking fifth, four spots ahead of GPS. In the boys' race, McCallie was sixth while Baylor was ninth and Hixson was 14th.
Overall champions were Louisville Trinity's Vince Turner, who completed the 5-kilometer event in 15 minutes, 49.15 seconds; South Forsyth's Savannah Carnahan, who set a course record finishing in 17:33.16; the South Forsyth girls and the Oak Ridge boys.
"I thought we maxed out today," Baylor girls' coach Heather Ott said. "Our focus today was that today really matters; it wasn't a rehearsal. Excellence isn't an act -- it's a habit -- and we have to create excellence."
The Lady Red Raiders had season-best performances from Grace Carlson, Jennie Kwon and Marly Toledano. GPS's Carly Braman was her team's top performer, taking 17th in 20:14.94.
McCallie and Baylor each had a pair of top-10 individuals: Dylan Carmack and Reed Oscar for the Blue Tornado and Jackson Goodwin and Alex Sumida for the Red Raiders. Goodwin, Sumida and John Carlson had personal bests Saturday for Baylor, while six of McCallie's top seven ran career bests.
"We have a lot of new runners this year," McCallie coach Mike Wood said, "so I'm very happy with our performance. For a lot of them, it's their first year on the varsity, so I thought they did a great job today and ran better than they have all year, which is very pleasing considering the level of competition."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.