BOTH JEFFERSON’S boys and girls distance runners got a sneak peak at the course on which they hope they’ll run their best meet of the year next week.
The Dragons and Lady Dragons both competed at the Patriot Race this past Saturday at Oglethorpe County High School, which will host the Region 8-AA championships next Thursday (Oct. 27). Jefferson’s girls finished third while the boys were sixth.
Sophomore Reese Bowles led Jefferson with a third-place showing, running a 20:45. Other top times for Jefferson came from senior Holly Baron (13th, 22:21), freshman Sasha Parker (17th, 22:23) and freshman Olivia Yates (18th, 22:29). Sixty-seven girls competed in the varsity race.
Meanwhile, the boys got a pair of top 15 finishes from sophomore Kyle Kashuba (10th, 17:46) and Trae Timmerman (12th, 17:47). The boys’ varsity race featured 106 runners.
“This meet was the last dress rehearsal before the region championships,” coach Katie Sellers said. “A lot of kids had PR’s today and the results are a wake-up call for us. We have to go back to work this week to get better at our fundamentals and use the experience we had today to improve our performance on the 27th of this month.”
Jefferson also enjoyed a few highlights in the junior varsity race, most notably sophomore Mason Simmons, who finished fourth out of 82 runners with a 19:56.
“He came out today with the right attitude and performed,” coach Allen Thompson said. “This is a tribute to his hard work and dedication to his craft in the last few months. We are very proud of Mason.”
Other top junior varsity times for Jefferson came from sophomore Nick Parker (ninth, 20:24) and junior Will Roberts 10th, 20:26)
