Lady Eagles place third at state cross country meet

SM-Tn Sports

Buoyed by Top-15 finishes Thursday by Jayne and Julia Halterman, Independence’s girls placed third at the TSSAA Cross Country Large Class State Championships.

Running on the 5K course at Hendersonville’s Sanders Ferry Park, Jayne Halterman ran an 18-minute, 32.29-second time to place 11th – two minutes behind individual champion Jenna Hutchins of Science Hill (16:30.84). Julia Halterman crossed the finish line in 18:38.02 to finish 13th.

Senior Emma Wilson (19:48.42) finished 33rd, with sophomore Emma Pearson (19:48.94) one spot back. Samantha Ude (21:02.09, 81st) and Joanna Halterman (21:46.65, 104th) rounded out the Lady Eagles’ effort.

Brentwood won the girls team title, followed by Farragut and Independence.

Lebanon’s Aiden Britt ran a 15:29.69 to win the boys individual championship. Spring Hill’s Michael Gerhart placed 31st with a 16:49.92, with Independence’s Nate Martinez running a 17:43.83 to finish 100th.

Hardin Valley Academy won the team championship, followed by Franklin and Houston.

In the Small Class girls competition, Forrest’s Jaedyn Stalnecker finished third with a 20:22.07, behind Fairview’s Alyssa Andrea (20:04.62) and Signal Mountain’s Kelsey Thompson (20:14.71).

Summertown freshman Alivia Riggs placed 21st with a 22:27.98, with senior teammate Claire Woods running a 25:32.28 to finish 95th.

Signal Mountain took team honors, followed by Merrol Hyde and Gatlinburg-Pittman.

Among the boys, Camden’s Will Douglas turned in a winning time of 16:01.78. Signal Mountain won the team title, ahead of Merrol Hyde and Alcoa.

Santa Fe’s top individual finisher was Josh Martin, who ran a 19:38.75 for 83rd place. He was followed by Ryan Seltz (20:15.59), Samuel Trout (20:39.85), Shayne West (21:49.70), Bowman Ruch (22:09.53), Jackson Irwin (23:25.01) and Elijah Crumley (28:33.11).

Division II competition will take place Friday at Sanders Ferry Park, with the Class AA girls running at 10 a.m., the Class AA boys at 10:40 a.m., the Class A girls – with Columbia Academy – at 2 p.m. and the Class A boys at 2:40 p.m. CA’s Connor Henson and Zion Christian’s William Craig will both be in the final race.

Leave a Reply