Rainy Day Forces Runners to Shift Gears at Meet

BRISTOL, Tenn. – The front-runners in Saturday’s “Run Fer Da Hills” cross country meet each came to South Holston Dam with a different goal in mind.

None of them, however, had any illusions of turning in a particularly fast time.

Part of the reason is the time of the season: The meet is the area’s traditional opener, so even veterans weren’t certain what to expect.

The other part was the weather: While cool temperatures were ideal for running, intermittent and sometimes heavy rain showers created slick conditions on what is already a challenging course.

“The course was water-logged, so I told [the guys] that time is somewhat irrelevant on a day like today,” Abingdon High School assistant coach Tommy Antenucci said. “I just told them to be aggressive that first mile, so we can get out and be in a good position without getting boxed in.

“Really, this is a good place to test yourself. [But] times were kind of thrown out the window, so I just told them to go for place. Place went pretty well.”

All things considered, the Abingdon boys were flying on Saturday. Led by senior George Tolton, who won the race in 18:02, the Falcons packed their finishers together to grab the big-school varsity team title. Abingdon had 40 points to runner-up Jefferson Forest’s 58.

Tolton said that he’d hoped to clock a better time – a minute or more faster than how he finished – but he eased back slightly on the throttle the last mile to make certain he won.

He was 10 seconds faster than runner-up Todd Tenpaso of Jefferson Forest.

“I did want that first-place finish, but I also wanted to see how we were going to finish as a team,” Tolton said. “This was a nice start to the season.”

Other Abingdon runners who finished among the top 15 were Michael Gifford in fifth (18:51), Colby Hinchey in 10th (18:57) and Tanner Cook in 14th (19:23).

“For the first two miles we looked excellent,” Antenucci said. “We had a little trouble that last mile, but as a whole, this was better than I thought we would do today. I knew we were in good shape, but this exceeded my expectations.

“I thought we had a good chance to win it. I didn’t think we would look as good as we did.”

Patrick Henry, led by Skyler Carbary’s eighth-place finish (18:55), won the small-school title with 253 points. Lebanon was second overall (273), paced by John Ulrich’s 13th-place finish (19:19).

Marion got an 11th-place finish from Michael Francis (19:05) and a 15th-place finish from Alex Francis (19:25) to finish fourth in the big-school standings.

The girls varsity race featured a number of familiar faces – Marion’s Melanie Rice, Patrick Henry’s Krista McCray and John Battle’s Mariah Arnold – but a new one ran away with first place.

Science Hill freshman Molly Fisher easily grabbed the individual title in her first varsity race, clocking 20:47. That was 34 seconds faster than runner-up Leigha Schimmoeller of Jefferson Forest.

“I wanted to go out and follow whoever was leading,” Fisher said. “I felt good early, so I just passed her.”

Like Tolton, Fisher had hoped to go a lot faster – she typically runs more than minute faster – but settled instead for the win.

“No matter what the time is, I’m pretty excited to get a win in my first varsity meet,” she said.

Science Hill won the big-school girls meet with 30 points. Jefferson Forest was second (74), Abingdon took third (102) and Marion ran fourth (170).

Marion’s Rice, who dominated area meets last fall, is bouncing back from an injury that spoiled her outdoor track season, so she had little more in mind Saturday than seeing how she held up from start to finish. She finished third in 21:34.

“I just started getting back in the summer time, so I really don’t know what I can do,” Rice said. “I’m just happy I can run. I’ll try to build off today, take the season and do what I can with it.”

Patrick Henry senior Krista McCray was the pace-setter from the start, and she eventually ran fourth in 21:36. The Rebels won the small-school meet with 155 points.

“I like going out fast,” McCray explained. “You can always slow down, but it’s hard to get caught back up. That’s why I go out fast. I don’t like to get caught up in all that traffic.”

John Battle’s Arnold also had to cope with an injury during outdoor track season, so she also was eager to gauge her conditioning on Saturday. Arnold ran sixth in 21:52. The
Trojans were runners-up in the small-school race.

“I wanted to get this first race over to get the feel of [competition] again,” she said. “I was hoping all the work I put in over the summer would pay off. It’s paying off right now.”

Other area runners finishing in the top 15 were Lebanon’s Tabby Arwood (seventh in 21:55), and Abingdon’s Chelsea Thrasher (eighth in 22:01), Madison Turner (10th in 22:32) and Kensie Skeens (14th in 23:01).