Sectional success fuels Wildcats’ state ambitions
Oak Ridge’s Jullian Kearns is locked in and focused as he prepares for his race Wednesday, Oct. 28, during the Sectional 1-AAA cross country meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville. (photo:Izzy Smith | ORHS Sports Media )
Both teams qualified for the TSSAA Division I Class AAA State Cross Country Championships after finishing among the top four teams at the Sectional 1-AAA meet Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville.
The Wildcats and Lady Wildcats will compete for state honors Thursday, Nov. 5, at Shelby Farms Park in Memphis.
Oak Ridge’s girls turned in one of their strongest performances of the season, finishing third with 75 points after losing a tiebreaker to Farragut for second place.
Senior Kendra Hurd led the Lady Wildcats, finishing 10th with a time of 20 minutes, 29.33 seconds.
Junior Brooke Roessner placed 13th in 20:48.37, followed closely by junior Amaija Bishop, who finished 14th in 20:56.38.
Freshman Annie Kuhns crossed the finish line in 18th place with a time of 21:19.68, while sophomore Madelyn Frazier finished 20th in 22:05.40.
Freshman Kendred Patterson rounded out Oak Ridge’s finishers, placing 39th in 25:12.16.
Despite narrowly missing second place, Oak Ridge Coach Ed Wright said he was thrilled with his team’s performance.
“Tying for second, and then losing on the tiebreaker, that’s as well as we could have run,” Wright said.
“That’s the best we’ve run as a team this year in any meet on the girls’ side.”
Oak Ridge’s boys also punched their ticket to Memphis, finishing fourth in the sectional meet with 95 points.
Junior Julien Kelley paced the Wildcats with a 15th-place finish in 17:05.79.
Fellow junior Tommy Sauer followed in 19th place with a time of 17:17.35, while freshman Connor Morgan finished 22nd in 17:24.03.
Sophomore Finnian Wessels placed 25th in 17:39.28, followed by freshman Chase Bolin, who finished 28th in 17:47.27.
Freshman Eli Holdsworth crossed the finish line in 37th place with a time of 18:50.28, while junior Julian Kearns finished 40th in 19:16.29.
Wright praised the Wildcats for their consistency, particularly the tight grouping among the team’s top five runners.
“Same thing on the boys’ side; we can’t run any better as a team,” Wright said. “We had just a 40-second spread from 1 to 5. You can’t ever complain about that.
“I do want to single out Tommy Sauer, he was our No. 2; he was really the difference in getting that power spread down from like a minute to 40 seconds.”
With both squads delivering strong sectional performances, the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats now turn their attention to the state’s biggest stage in Memphis.