Boone dominates Fenders cross country carnival
EDITORS NOTE: Due to errors in the information given to the Herald & Tribune last week, we are rerunning a corrected version of the Fenders Farm event .
Several middle and high school teams from across the area joined Daniel Boone and David Crockett cross-country runners at Fenders Farm in Jonesborough on Sept. 19 for a 5k and 2-mile course competition.
Despite sitting several of their top runners in the high school boys event, the Blazers finished first in the team standings with their top five runners totaling 21 points.
The defending state champion Blazers dominated the event in placing six runners in the top 10.
Junior Daniel Johnson led all Boone runners with a third place finish in the 5k, posting a time of 17:27.50.
Boone sophomore Noah White finished just behind his teammate with a time of 17:30.80.
Other Blazer runners finishing in the top 10 included junior Caleb Sells (17:36.50) and freshman Matt Huff (18:00.50) who finished fifth and sixth respectively and Connor Loyd (18:07.20) and Nick Bronstetter (18:22.00) placing eighth and tenth.
Morristown East finished second with 82 points and Crockett rounded out the top three with 96 points.
Leading the way for the Pioneers was junior Dakoatah Lyons who finished second overall with a time of 17:19.80.
The top individual runner in the high school boys event was Chuckey-Doaks T.J. Tupps who finished with the top time of 16:54.30.
In high school girls competition, the Lady Blazers made it a clean sweep for Boone in capturing the womens competition with a combined total of 44 points.
Leading the Lady Blazers to the top mark was third place finisher Rachel Campbell who posted a time of 22:36.30 and ninth place finisher Alanna Cloud who posted a time of 24:10.00.
Sullivan Central (69) and Volunteer (82) rounded out the top three in the team standings.
Despite getting a strong performance from freshman Taylor Roy (21:23.70), who finished second overall in the girls competition, the Lady Pioneers finished sixth in the team standings with 113 points.
Providence Academys Amy Ferguson finished first overall in the girls event, topping all individuals with a time of 19:37.00.
Middle school competition was run on a 2-mile course with several Washington County schools participating at the event.
In the middle school boys event, Junior Pioneer eighth-grader Mason Lewis led all middle school runners in posting a top time of 11:41.90.
Despite his top finish, the Junior Pioneers were without the five runners needed to qualify in the team standings as Ridgeview Middle captured the top spot, running to a total of 55 points.
Ridgeview was led by three top 10 placers, including fourth place finisher Max Austin (12:00.40), seventh place finisher and top sixth grader Gavin Leonard (12:35.80), and tenth placer Keaton Smith (12:55.80).
Second place in the team standings was Mary Hughes Middle (67), led by top seventh-grader and second place finisher Justin Knittel (11:48.00). Sixth place finisher Hunter Olds (12:25.20) and ninth place finisher Christopher Miller (12:52.50) led Providence Academy Middle School (73) to third place.
Other top 10 placers in the boys individual standings included Gray Middle Schools Austin Galloway (11:58.90) in third, East Ridges Nash Prince (12:18.90) in fifth and New Center Middles John Fahidy (12:36.0) in eighth.
In girls middle school action, top individual finisher Madeline Runnels (14:13.80), second place finisher Abbey Loran (14:18.70) and fifth place individual finisher Christen Sholes (15:19.50) guided Providence Academy Middle to the top spot in the team standings with 44 points.
Third place individual finisher Mattie Topping (14:22.40) and her fourth place teammate and top sixth-grader Cara Taylor (14:22.70) led Colonial Heights Middle to a second a place finish in the team standings with 50 points.
Ridgeview Middle rounded out the top three in the team standings with 69 points and was led by eighth place finisher Judy Chellah (15:41.30).
Other individuals finishing in the top 10 included Mary Hughes sixth-grader Taylor Dixon (15:30.10) in sixth, top seventh-grader Marinda Walls (15:32.50) of Boones Creek Middle placing seventh, junior Pioneer Halle Scott (15:52.40) placing ninth and Gray Middles Lauren Spry (16:00.60) finishing tenth.
The Blazers followed up their strong performance at Fenders Farm by traveling to South Carolina on Sept. 26 for the Low Country Invitational.
Led by top overall finishers Josh Routh (15:28.00) and Ben Varghese (15:46.00) who placed one and two at the event, the Blazers ran to the top of the high school boys team standings in a dead heat with Hilton Head.
Both teams top five placers totaled 75 points, but Hilton Heads sixth and seventh runners finished ahead, giving them the top spot.