It was a day of “firsts”. The first Eagle Cross Country Invitational hosted by the Franklin County High School Cross Country team was the first event to be held at the newly opened athletic field at Waid Park in Franklin County. Teams began arriving at 8 a.m. Saturday, September 1st and when everyone was registered more than 300 runners representing 17 schools had arrived to compete in the 3.1 mile race.
It was a day of “firsts”. The first Eagle Cross Country Invitational hosted by the Franklin County High School Cross Country team was the first event to be held at the newly opened athletic field at Waid Park in Franklin County. Teams began arriving at 8 a.m. Saturday, September 1st and when everyone was registered more than 300 runners representing 17 schools had arrived to compete in the 3.1 mile race. Franklin County High School Coach Jeremy Woods stated that he was surprised at the number of teams that competed in this first time event and was excited to have such an excellent turnout.
Coach Woods said the course was a nice combination of hills and flat terrain that made a good challenging course. The runners echoed that thought but added that the rain from the night before made the already challenging course more difficult because of the mud in some areas.
Cave Spring senior Tim Smith led a field of 99 in the boys varsity race to complete the 3.1 mile course in 16 minutes, 31 seconds. Craig County runner Jessica Alley was the champion for the girls varsity race, completing the course in 21 minutes, 19 seconds. Franklin County junior, Kaleigh Wood, led the girls varsity race until just near the end where Alley took the lead and ultimately bested Wood’s time by five seconds.
The preparation that went into the success of this event was apparent. Team members, parents and volunteers worked together to make certain everything went smoothly and the needs of the athletes were met. Event t-shirts and food were available for sale by the Franklin County Cross Country Team, and Fleet Feet of Roanoke was on hand with many products for sale that the runners may need and contributed 10% of their sales to the Franklin County Cross Country program.
Coach Woods said he was happy with the success of the event and the positive feedback from the participating teams and coaches. He looks forward to holding the event again next fall.
Team Scores ~ Boys: E.C. Glass 49, Cave Spring 88, Radford 110, Roanoke Catholic 137, Salem 145, Alleghany 186, Liberty Christian Academy 220, Hidden Valley 222, Bassett 232, Martinsville 232, Chatham 240, Franklin County 258, George Washington 334, Gretna 337.
Team Scores ~ Girls: E.C. Glass 52, Cave Spring 79, Roanoke Catholic 92, Franklin County 119, Alleghany 125, Radford 160, Liberty Christian Academy 169, Gretna 179, Chatham 196, Bassett 245
A picture is worth a thousand words. Take a look at everything else we have tosay:
Set 1 - Set 2 - Set 3 - Set 4 - Set 5 - Set 6 - Set 7 - Set 8 - Set 9 - Set 10 - Set 11 - Set 12 - Set 13 - Set 14 - Set 15 - Set 16 - Set 17 - Set 18 - Set 19 - Set 20 - Set 21 - Set 22 - Set 23 - Set 24 - Set 25 - Set 26
