White County cross country finishes season

The White County Cross Country teams finished their season last week, and Coach Gregg Segraves has had nothing but praise for his young athletes all season long.

“Congratulations to the Cross Country team on a great season,” Segraves said. “As a coach all you can ask is for the kids to peak at the right time.  We had so many PR’s which is a testament of the hard work these kids have put in.”

While the White County team was unable to earn a berth to the state meet and none of their runners qualified as individuals, Segraves is encouraged by the progress that was made over the season with so many athletes who are experiencing their first year as distance runners.

“The warriors finished with a top 10 finish as a team and will have a great chance to qualify as a team next year,” he said.

 Gabriel Wiles finished 21st overall out of 124 runners, qualifying as the 6th runner and missing the state by one slot and a distance of four seconds. Kaden Kimmins finished 57th with a great run, while Aden Atkins had a huge improvement of 21:46 which was 2 minutes and 5 seconds faster than his old time.  Freshmen Ashton Randolph and John David Durfee both ran personal bests again with Ashton improving his time by over a minute while JD had another great run and continued his string of personal records. Both Jackson Hodges and Blake Cravens improved their times by 40 seconds.

The girls were led by freshman Harley Johnston who ran her best time of 28:25, followed by Luci McKee and Poppy Shank who both set new personal records while Zoey Clemons ran her best race of the season.  

“A special thanks to Coach Topher Wiles for his expertise and training the kids to peak at tournament time,” Segraves said that the program’s success had a lot to do with the help he received from his assistant coach.

“As a team, we would like to give a special thanks to Mr. Bob Young for allowing us to train and practice on his property.  A very special thanks to First Baptist Church for allowing us to use the pavilion and restrooms.  This opportunity gave these kids a feeling of having a home to practice,” Segraves said that having a place to train made a big difference in the attitude of the athletes. “I’d like to also say Thank You to Mr. Dronebarger, Mr. Alley, and Mrs. Summers for making this happen and providing safe transportation to the practice facility.  Also, thank you to Mr. Wilson, Coach Crain and the entire administrative team and teachers for all of their support.”

“A special thank you to Sonics for allowing us to fundraise with the discount cards which afforded us the opportunity to buy the tent for the kids,” the coach continued with the gratitude for all the persons who made the White County Cross Country team a success the season. “Lastly, a heartfelt Thank You to all the parents of the High School and Middle School runners.”