The annual Front Runner Five Star Stride cross country meet was hosted by Heritage at home Saturday, Aug. 23. Mike Craft, the head cross country coach, mentioned that he thought they would’ve ended up finishing a little higher, but that everyone who participated did exceptionally well.
The Boys team ended up finishing in 6th place out of 28 schools. Landon Talley, a junior at Heritage High School, led the boys’ team by earning a 3rd place medal. Talley says, “To do things differently, I’d probably just go to bed earlier the night before, and do a better job preparing myself for the race.”
The Girls team also turned out finishing 6th out of 28 schools. Leading the generals by receiving a 2nd place medal was Evie Robison, a junior at Heritage High School. “My expectation before the meet was mainly to get top 3. From here, I’m just going to keep working hard at practice and staying motivated,” Robison said.
Caden Cook, a junior, and Elin Rios, a sophomore, both earned a new PR. “It definitely helped to have the meet at home because, you know, I’ve ran it before, ran it many times. I know it better than most people that have run it but I definitely feel like running at home is an advantage,” Cook shared. It was Elin Rios’ first varsity meet of the season and she also hit a PR. She said that she was nervous but she’s just going to continue running and staying motivated.
Justin Whaley led the JV boys to finishing in 3rd place by earning a 3rd place medal. Whaley’s overall performance earned him a varsity spot for the next race. His coach described that he’s been working hard and that he got an injury over the summer, but that Whaley is overcoming it and that’s why he has this success.
The Cross Country team has another meet Tuesday, Sept. 2nd in Dalton. Coach Craft mentioned that throughout the rest of the season the team will have to keep working hard.“I think a lot of people’s times are going to get a lot faster and we’re going to start seeing how we stack up against some of our competition. Especially in our regional competition.” Overall the Heritage Generals’ Cross Country team finished high at the meet Saturday, and it seems like they’re already preparing for the next one.
