Three Wildcats advance to state meet in Hendersonville
Oak Ridge High School will send three athletes to the Class AAA state cross country championships.
The Wildcats and Lady Wildcats both failed to advance as a team out the Region 1-AAA championships last week. That meet was held Wednesday, Oct. 25, at Victor Ashe Park in Northwest Knoxville.
ORHS Coach Ed Wright said his teams didn’t have their best day at Victor Ashe Park.
“We weren’t ready to run,” he said. “West, Farragut and Hardin Valley ran great on the boys’ side, and (in the girls’ race), we knew that Bearden was going to be the one that we had to beat, and we just weren’t ready to run.
Sophomore Dylan Job finished fifth in the girls’ region championships and qualified as an individual for the state title race, which will be held Thursday at Sanders Ferry Park in Hendersonville.
Job, who reached the state championships in 2022, completed the 5,000-meter course at Victor Ashe Park in 19:37.97.
Two Wildcats had two state qualifiers as Mason Greenhalgh finished 14th with a time of 17 minutes, 19 seconds, and Rhett Hovater was 15th, crossing the finish line in 17:19.57.