TCHS Runners Close Out Regular Season

Courtesy of TCHS

The Toombs County High School Cross Country teams concluded their regular season on Thursday of last week at the Three Rivers Classic. This year’s meet was held at the Toombs County course, as the original location at Jeff Davis was destroyed by Hurricane Helene. Despite the change in venue, the weather was nearly perfect, and many runners achieved personal records (PRs).

Girls

Senior Bryleigh Woods led the Lady Bulldogs with a season-best time of 24:20. She was followed by Deanna Gonzalez and Mareli Luna, both finishing in the 25-minute range. The girls’ team placed 14th out of 18 teams.

Boys Sophomore Juan Luna ran a career PR of 17:00, leading the Bulldogs. Freshman Luis Valentin also set a career PR, finishing with a time of 18:51. Senior Kevin Mentado achieved a personal best of 19:19. Freshman Cole Russell crossed the finish line at 19:30, followed by sophomore Victor Valentin with a time of 19:45, rounding out the top five.

The boys’ team achieved a significant milestone at this meet, with all top five runners finishing under 20 minutes— a long-term goal set by Coach Jeremy Moore.

“I am proud of how both groups ran today. These kids have been through so much in the past few weeks, but they’ve worked hard since we’ve been able to get back to practice,” said Coach Moore. “The girls’ team has struggled with consistency this season, but with 4-5 girls hitting season PRs today, they’re in a good position to qualify for the state meet. On the boys’ side, we finally hit our goal of having our top five runners break 20 minutes, which was a great feeling. Our sectional is going to be highly competitive, but if we run like we did today, I like our chances of finishing in the Top 12 and moving on to the state meet.”

With the regular season behind them, the Toombs County cross country teams now set their sights on the upcoming Sectional Meet in a few weeks, where they hope to continue their strong performances.