Laster, Moody Shine at Norris Dam Invitational
Two Anderson County cross country runners opened the 2024 season in impressive fashion Saturday, as Vance Laster and Ava Moody further etched their names in the school record books on their home course.
Laster finished second overall in the boys’ race at the Norris Dam Invitational in Andersonville, while Moody came in fourth in the girls’ race.
The results follow their successes at the state track and field championships in May, where Moody won two distance titles and Laster also secured a championship.
“This was a good race for us, and it was a big one because it’s our home race,” Anderson County Coach Mollie Longmire said. “Both had the school records, and they both had [personal records] on Saturday.
“Both had milestones,” she said. “Vance broke the 16-minute barrier, which is huge for a boy. The same for Ava. She broke the 18-minute barrier, which is big for a girl in the cross country world.”
Laster completed the course in 15 minutes, 58.31 seconds, while Moody crossed the finish line in 17:38.05.
Moody led the Lady Mavericks to a seventh-place finish, while the boys’ team placed eighth.
Other top finishers for Anderson County included John Cutler, who came in 14th in the boys’ race (16:45.48). Avian Laster finished 70th (18:35.86), Michael Mattson placed 101st (19:38.24), Ethan Bolton took 112th (19:51.68), Franklin Downs was 123rd (20:13.14), and Zander Vo finished 167th (21:16.89).
For the Lady Mavericks, Rebekah Berg placed 27th with a time of 20:56.44. Morgan Haire came in 56th (22:43.76), Cindle Justice finished 65th (23:30.19), Marley Caldwell was 66th (23:30.94), Kimberlin Lassiter placed 109th (25:42.69), and Emma Owens came in 119th (26:29.69).
Anderson County will compete next at the Southern Showcase in Huntsville, Alabama.
“That’s a big race,” Longmire said. “It’s good that we ran well in our home race, but competing in a race like the Southern Showcase will make our runners better.”