As 2019 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the more than 40 prep teams we follow and report on. Today we look back at some of the highlights of year for the cross country teams at Coffee County CHS and Coffee County Middle and Westwood Middle schools.
In an interesting twist of fate, all 3 prep cross country teams featured new coaches thanks to opportunities for advancement from the coaches of 2018. At Westwood, Katrina Verge brought her experience and expertise to a Rocket program that has seen a lot of success in the previous years highlighted by Kailee Rossman’s state qualifying time. Coach Verge continued that dominance as evidenced by a pair of wins at Sewanee in late September. Thunder Radio brought you the news of the wins in a story we published on September 30th.
The Westwood Middle School cross country team traveled to Sewanee on Friday to compete in the Mountain Lion Invitational at St. Andrews-Sewanee. Both the Rockets and Lady Rockets dominated in the 4 team meet. Westwood got 3 of the top 6 finishers in both the boys and girls races as they easily won both team titles.
Rylea McNamara led the Lady Rockets as she won the girls’ race with a time of 16:06 for the 2 mile course. Jennifer Sanchez came in 4th place as she crossed the line in 18:17. Raygan Dubler finished 5th with a time of 18:28 to earn a 5th place finish. Kimberly Garcia was 9th at 20:19, Melisa Garcia came in 10th at 21:36 and Alexandra Rivas Garcia was 13th in a time of 27:09.
For the Rockets, Nico Sanfilippo won the boys’ race with a time of 14:27. Caleb Cargile came in 4th with a time of 15:47 and Jaime Barrera grabbed 6th place with a time of 16:01. Lane Fann came in 7th place with a time of 16:07, Hunter Crosslin was 14th with a time of 17:17, Neyland Grant came in 15th with a time of 17:42 and Eduardo Rojas Chavez finished in 16th place with a time of 18:01. Thompson Lowe(with a time of 19:53) came in 18th place, Joel Baker(also at 19:53) came in 19th place and Tavion King(30:12) was 21st.
The Rockets return to racing on Tuesday when they travel to Unionville to compete at Community. That meet is scheduled to get underway at 4 PM.
Jeremy Woods took over the cross country program at Coffee County Middle School as Nathan Wanuch spent the fall semester deployed with the National Guard. The Raider harriers also enjoyed success highlighted by Sophie McInturff’s Top 15 finish in the TMSAA State Meet. The team’s brightest hour came August in McMinnville as both the Red Raiders and Lady Raiders each got team wins at a meet at Warren County. Thunder Radio reported on the wins in a story we brought to you on August 30th.
The Coffee County Middle School cross country team opened their season in McMinnville on Thursday. Taking part in the Pioneer Invitational at Warren County Middle School against 5 teams the Raiders got a pair of team wins.
For the first time in school history, the Raiders were able to field a girls’ team. All 5 Coffee County Lady Raider runners finished in the top 15 in the convincing win. Sophie McInturff finished in 1st place. Greenlee Woods came in 2nd place and Bailey Kitts finished in 5th place to lead the Lady Raiders.
For the Red Raiders, Lucas Beaty was the top finisher for Coffee County as he came in 3rd place. Bradley Escue crossed the tape in 7th place while Manuel Gonzalez came home in 8th place.
The Raider cross country team will be back in action next Thursday when they travel to Bell Buckle to compete in a meet at Webb. The starting gun will go off at 4 PM.
Paul Wright stepped in to lead the Coffee County CHS cross country team in Wanuch’s absence. The Raider harriers advanced to the region meet before having their season come to a close. The team highlight of the year came in late September as the Raiders captured both team titles in a meet at Sewanee. Thunder Radio brought you the news of the wins in a story we published on September 30th.
The Coffee County CHS cross country team traveled to Sewanee on Friday to compete in the Mountain Lion Invitational at St. Andrews-Sewanee. Competing against 11 teams, the Red Raiders captured individual and team titles in the meet. The Lady Raiders sent only 3 runners but still finished with a top 6 finish.
Jacob Rutledge led Red Raiders has he won the boys’ race with a time of 18:43. The top 5 Raider runners finished in the top 11 as Garrett Masters came in 4th place with a time of 20:41. Ethan Welch came in 8th with a time of 21:10. Bodey Todd finished in 10th place with a time of 21:30 just an eyelash ahead of Jacob Slabaugh who was 11th with a time of 21:31. Also running for the Red Raiders were Christian Alvarez(with a time of 23:02), Ethan Beaty(23:24), Aiden Dubler(24:07) and Holden Snow(25:15).
The Lady Raiders were led by Patricia Barrera who came in 6th place with a time of 25:00 for the 5K race. Nayeli Cano came in 14th place with a time of 27:09. Zoe Mills broke the tape in 18th place with a time of 29:07.
The Raider thinclads will be back in action on October 12th when they compete in the MSCCA Midstate Chapionships Dickson. Racing is set to begin at 10 AM at the Buckner City Park.
