By Maurice Patton
Multi-sport athletes ruled the day at the Southern Middle Tennessee Ring Farm all-comers cross country meet Tuesday.
Columbia Central’s Trace Schoeberl covered the 5K course in 18 minutes, 32.44 seconds to win the boys high school competition – finishing 40 seconds ahead of Lions teammate Gonzalo Chamorro, who placed third.
On the girls side, Summertown’s Alivia Riggs and Claire Woods each turned in top-10 finishes.
For all four, cross country is a secondary endeavor.
“I thought they did well, with the limited practice we’ve had,” Summertown coach Greg Burleson said regarding Riggs and Woods. Riggs, a freshman, is a member of the Lady Eagles basketball team, while Woods is a senior pitcher on the softball team.
“They’re all doing something else. They come when they can.”
Riggs ran a 23:36.41, placing second behind Forrest sophomore Jaedyn Stalnecker (21:45.50), with Woods running a 24:07.91 for eighth place.
It was just the second meet of the season for Summertown’s boys and girls teams, following an event a week ago at Chapel Hill’s Henry Horton State Park.
That was one more meet than Central’s squads had under their belt – and the jitters may have claimed the Lions’ top runner.
Sunny Quinn, a junior, got off course at one of the last turns before the final stretch. After learning of his miscue, he took a did-not-finish.
“Sunny should have broken 18 (minutes),” Central coach Sarah Robert said. “He went the wrong way and then quit.”
Schoeberl kept pace with Quinn for the most part, but took his own detour before recalculating his path.
“I took the middle school route and lost about 10 seconds,” said Schoeberl, who is an avid cross country biker and has logged 12,000 miles this year.
“This was my first race. My legs are killing me. But I need to set a better pace.”
Robert is excited about the possibilities with Quinn, Schoeberl and Chamorro – a soccer player who ran a 19:13.57 to finish 16 seconds behind Marshall County’s Zack Sheppard.
“Gonzalo’s only run a couple of weeks with us,” she said. “He’s fun to watch.
“This is huge for Trace. He and Sunny were side by side, encouraging each other. I think the cross training makes him a better runner.”
Agathos Classical’s Lillian Quinn (23:56.81) and Katherine Quinn (24:25.03) finished fifth and ninth among the girls competitors, respectively.
Full results from the meet, which also included Culleoka, Hampshire and Santa Fe along with various other Midstate teams, are available here.
The event is a bit of a preliminary for the Maury County Championships, which will take place Sept. 22 at Ring Farm.
Lady Eagles fall in shootout: Despite a Rivers Abshere hat trick, Zion Christian lost Tuesday to visiting Giles County by a 7-5 margin. Sophomore Ava Corbin added a pair of goals for the hosts in the loss.