Four White County runners earn medals at invitational

White County Cross-country runners from WCMS and WCHS competed at the Macon Bank Invitational in Lafayette on Saturday, August 26. It was a hot morning for a run after an early start and long drive. The races started at 7:30 a.m. and White County had a strong showing with four runners earning medals.

Eighth-grader Hannah Rabchenia finished 8th overall for middle school girls with a time of 15:46.00. Another eighth-grader, Saydee Carpenter, finished 18th out of 123 middle school girls with a time of 16:47.00. Ali Beth Stebing (7th grade), Shelby Elam (8th grade), Treeah Powell (7th grade), Hannah Shaffield (8th grade), and Jubilee Kugler (6th grade) rounded out the WCMS girls finishers and the WCMS girls team finished 7th out of 13 teams.

The WCMS boys team finished 8th out of 11 teams. Eight-grader Jackson Burch was the top runner for WCMS with a time of 14:18.00, finishing 22nd out of 140 runners. 28 second later, eight-grader Tyler Hernandez finished in 28th place. Lane Rodgers (7th grade), Jagger Osborne (8th grade), Hayden Blankenship (6th grade), and Luke Benson (6th grade) also finished for the WCMS boys.

The WCHS girls were led by freshman Emma Nash, who finished in 14th place out of 77 runners, with a time of 24:54.00 for the 3.1-mile course. The WCHS girls team finished 7th out of 8 but having enough runners to field a team was a huge statement. Harley Johnston (10th grade), Breanna Powell (11th grade), Briley Sims (12th grade), Poppy Shank (11th grade), and Zoey Clemons (11th grade) completed the WCHS girls finishers.

Junior Gabriel Wiles was the first finisher for WCHS boys with a time of 20:03.00 and finished in 15th place out of 119 runners. The WCHS boys team finished 8th out of 12 teams. Ashton Randolph (10th grade) and Kaden Kimmons (12th grade) finished at 22:00.00 and 22:07.00 respectively. Joel Greene (10th grade), Blake Cravens (11th grade), Chase Lewis (11th grade), Hunter Rigsby (9th grade), Colton Courtney (9th grade), Abram Lawson (9th grade), and Lincoln Kugler (9th grade) also finished for the WCHS boys.

WCHS runners recording new personal records were Emma Nash, Chase Lewis, and Lincoln Kugler.

White County Cross-country runners will next compete on August 31, at the MSCCA Member Meet in Cookeville. The course is located at 497 Whitaker Springs Rd, Cookeville, TN. Races will start with Middle School Girls at 4 pm.