EAST JACKSON’S Vladik Staples ran an 18:04 Thursday to win the 10th-annual MainStreet meet at Crow’s Lake and help the Eagles to a second-place showing in the boys’ team standings.
The Gainesville boys finished first in the five-team field (32 points).
Noah Hulett added a sixth-place showing for East Jackson, running an 18:35, and Cory McClung was eighth with a time of 19:15.
Tyler Cone and Quenton Rice rounded out the scoring for the Eagles. Cone ran a 20:09 to finish 18th. Rice took 19th with a time of 20:22.
East Jackson beat in-county rivals Jefferson and Jackson County in the event.
The Dragons finished third (73 points), led by Cain Lorenzo who ran an 18:30 to finish fifth.
The only other Jefferson runner with a sub-20 time was Josh Reid, who finished with a 19:58 to place 13th. Rounding out the scoring were Jonathan Ray (16th, 20:07), Pate Sheppard (17th, 20:09) and Andrew Ocock (22nd, 20:54).
Jackson County got a strong third-place showing from J.T. Wood, who ran an 18:22 to lead all Panther runners.
Wood was the only Jackson County runner to break 20 minutes. Following him were Anthony Allen (14th, 20:03), Dusty Haralson (21st, 20:47), Jacob Dearman (24th, 21:05) and Bryce Hughes (25th, 21:07).
Running with “home course advantage,” the Jefferson runners cruised to a team win in the girls’ meet.
Competing on the trail at which they practice everyday, the Lady Dragons placed four runners in the top 10 to finish with 33 points and beat rival Jackson County by 16 points.
Five teams competed in the meet.
Reese Bowles, who ran a 22:17, led Jefferson with a third-place finish, followed by Morgan Mitchell, Olivia Yates and Sasha Parker who all finished in a cluster.
Mitchell ran a 22:29 to place fifth. Yates finished with a 22:47 to take seventh. Parker rounded things out with a 22:49 to finish seventh.
Sydney Baird paced Jackson County with a time of 22:23 to finish fourth. Maddie Newton also ran in the top 10, taking eighth with a 23:21, as did Monica Jimenez, who was 10th with a 24:00. Also scoring points for the Lady Panthers were Nikki Fowler (13th, 25:02) and Allison Freeman (14th, 25:12).
East Jackson took fourth overall, led by Hayleigh Smith’s 11th-place finish (24:09). Others scoring for the Lady Eagles were Maegan Davidson (15th, 25:16), Bailey Brooks (18th, 26:16), Caroline Flynn (25th, 28:30) and Sydney Moates (31st, 37:11).
