Mavs grab another Top 5 finish during Victor Ashe Invitational

October 4, 2023 by Ken Lay

Another meet produced another Top 5 finish for the Anderson County High School boys cross country team.

The Mavericks came in second behind Oak Ridge during the Victor Ashe Park Invitational in Knoxville Saturday.

The Mavericks had seven runners place inside the Top 30 in the 5,000-meter course.

Vance Laster finished second overall, completing the course in 17 minutes, 13.73 seconds. He was one of three Mavericks to place in the Top 10.

Cameron Hardy posted a fourth-place finish, clocking in at 17:43.85. John Cutler came in 10th (18:51.79).

Darren Anderson finished 20th (19:29.81) and Toby Day (19:30.00) came in 21st.

Franklin Downs was 24th as he crossed the finish line in 19:56.33, and Ryan Basford came in 27th with a time of 20:10.54.

ACHS Coach Derek Wallace said he was pleased with his team’s performance.

“I was pretty happy with all of our guys,” he said. “I was really proud of Vance for finishing second, and I was really proud of our young guys who finished in the Top 20.”

The Lady Mavericks had three competitors in Saturday’s race.

Sydney Day, running in her first race of the season, posted a 12th-place finish as she clocked in with a time of 24 minutes, 18.78 seconds. Morgan Lindsay was 15th at 25:52.57. Anna Gross was 46th (33:07.82).

“Sydney did well, she came in 12th in her first race of the season,” Wallace said.

Anderson County will send runners to the Cove Lake Invitational Thursday. The two teams will also compete in the Jesse Owens Invitational in Alabama Saturday