CLARKSVILLE — “We got it.”
With those three little words, coach Kelley Russell and the Rogersville City School Lady Warriors could finally celebrate the culmination of a perfect season. The results were in — and they had done exactly what they set out to do. They ran for one another and parlayed their faith in God and each other into a TMSAA Class A state championship.
“I’m extremely proud of the way these girls performed, but more importantly I’m proud of the love and faith they have in one another and their desire to always GGTG (Give Glory to God),” Russell said. “These girls have truly defined RUNFORHER, in every outing this season, many times carrying one another through injury, sickness and disbelief to show that this journey isn’t about individual accolades, it’s about using your gifts to Glorify Him.”
RCS’ Elin Bryan, Kenady Deal and Lilla Harrell all finished in the top eight to earn all-state honors and lead the Lady Warriors to a 61-point win over their closest competitors in the Class A girls team standings at the TMSAA Cross Country State Championships on Saturday, Oct. 5, at Weakley Park in Clarksville.
RCS finished with 44 points. Merrol Hyde was second with 105 and Central Magnet third at 140.
Maxine Smith’s Lola Coupe won the Class A girls individual title with a meet record time of 12:35.26. East Hickman’s Evane Tidwell (12:42.33) and Cassidy Barnhill (12:52.57) finished second and third, respectively.
RCS’ Bryan, who ran 15 seconds faster than her previous best time, finished fourth in 13:01.38. It was the highest finish by any RCS athlete since the inception of the TMSAA Cross Country State Championships.
East Hickman’s Dakota Grover (13:10.83) finished fifth and Fairview’s Sarah Edwards (13:17.22) sixth. RCS’ Deal finished seventh with a season’s best time of 13:21.95. Harrell finished eighth with a time of 13:24.68 to reach the podium for the second straight year.
This one was particularly sweet for Harrell, given that she came down with strep throat less than a week ago and wasn’t even sure she’d be able to compete.
“I missed school and missed two practices right before this, so this is kind of like my first day back. I was just going to run to see what I could do and hopefully help,” said Harrell, who credited her teammates with helping her through it. “They were checking on me every day. They would send me videos and text me every hour asking me how I was feeling. They really helped me a lot.”
Harrell won the girls East sectional and had been the Lady Warriors’ No. 1 runner all season. With her not at full strength, the other eighth graders knew they’d need to step up and lead the way.
“It feels really good to know we’re state champions. Us eighth graders have been pushing for it for three years now,” said Bryan. “I knew because Lilla was sick that it might alter where I placed. I was ranked sixth and I got fourth, so I feel really good about that. She still did so good, though.”
Deal also turned in her best race of the season.
“We just wanted to make (Coach Russell) proud,” said Deal. “(Today) felt really, really good, especially since this hasn’t been my best season. But this was my best race of the year.”
It couldn’t have come at a better time for the Lady Warriors, who were making their ninth consecutive appearance at the state meet. They had finished as the state runners-up two years in a row and came in as the odds-on favorites. They won the team title at every meet they entered this season and finished with a rare perfect score of 15 at the Walters State Invitational.
“There’s not really words that can describe it. I think this has been our best team, and I’m super proud of them. We’ve worked our butts off, and I think we really deserve it. I’m just really proud of everybody, including the sixth graders who really helped everything,” Harrell said.
At the state meet, RCS sixth grader Paisley Lawson finished 12th in 13:52.25. Eighth grader Anna Mae Boyd (14:09.33) also finished in the top 20, at 19th to round out the scoring for RCS.
“I wasn’t expecting this, honestly,” said Lawson. “... I was shocked at how I did. It feels great. I’m just so excited. We’re making school history here.”
For Boyd, it was the perfect ending to their middle school cross country careers.
“It feels great,” said Boyd, who had to find a way to calm her nerves before the race. “I just had to remember to breathe. I just thought to myself, ‘It doesn’t matter if I get top 10. It doesn’t matter if I get on the podium. It just matters what I do for the team.’ ”
That is the RUNFORHER mentality that Russell has seen from this team all season.
“These girls have trusted God’s plan, done the work and given Him the Glory. I’m so grateful to witness their growth in this sport and as individuals. These girls are going to continue to do big things,” Russell said.
Hawkins County was well represented throughout the field.
RCS’ Madeline Webb finished 23rd with a time of 14:19.57. Rogersville Middle’s Sarah Ward finished 25th with a time of 14:21.29. Surgoinsville’s Gracie Christian finished 26th with a time of 14:21.57. RCS’ Olivia Sacharnoski finished 44th with a time of 14:51.85.
In the Class A boys race, RMS’ Travis Wade finished 36th with a time of 12:53.39. Surgoinsville’s Brody Case finished 48th with a time of 13:06.43.
Burns’ Middle School’s Koen Garrett won the Class A boys individual title with a time of 11:30.28. His teammate Levi Dixon finished second in 11:31.18.
Central Magnet won the Class A boys team title with 61 points. Maxine Smith (145) was second and Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts (148) third.
See more coverage from the TMSAA Cross Country State Championships in the Weekend edition of The Rogersville Review on Saturday, Oct. 12.
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