SM-Tn Sports
With one exception, Maury County runners came up just short – literally, in one case – of qualifying for state cross country competition with their performances at Friday’s Region 6-Small Class meet at Henry Horton State Park in Chapel Hill.
Mt. Pleasant’s Ben Hirsch, a state qualifier a year ago, finished 11th Friday with a time of 19 minutes, 20 seconds over the 5K course. The top 10 individuals and top three teams advance. Hirsch crossed the line a second behind East Hickman’s Eduardo Moreno for the final spot.
Fairview’s Ryan Keeton (16:38), Matthew Andrea (17:17) and Dylan Hammond (18:27) swept the top three places individually, pacing the Yellow Jackets to the team championship.
Santa Fe, led by Ryan Seltz’s 19th-place individual finish (20:08) tied Forrest for second, with both teams set to run Friday at the state small-class meet at Hendersonville’s Sanders Ferry Park. Josh Martin (20:10) placed 20th for Santa Fe.
Jackson Gary ran a 19:33 to place 13th for Mt. Pleasant, followed by Summertown’s Skyler Trousdale (19:36). Errette Delk ran a 20:00 for Hampshire, good for 17th individually.
Alyssa Andrea of Fairview won the girls individual title with a 19:59. Summertown’s Alivia Riggs (22:55) and Claire Woods (23:25) placed sixth and 10th, respectively. Santa Fe’s Lillian Trout (24:10) was the county’s top finisher, coming in at No. 17.
Moore County, Forrest and Huntland were the top three team finishers.
The state championships are set for Thursday and Friday, with Division I competition on Thursday and DII on Friday at Sanders Ferry. The full schedule is as follows:
Thursday: 10 a.m. — Division I Large Class Girls; 10:40 a.m. — Division I Large Class Boys; 2 p.m. — Division I Small Class Girls; 2:40 p.m. — Division I Small Class Boys
Friday: 10 a.m. — Division II Class AA Girls; 10:40 a.m. — Division II Class AA Boys; 2 p.m. — Division II Class A Girls; 2:40 p.m. — Division II Class A Boys