Bristol Cross tests area runners

A flash of metal as she smiled for post-race pictures gave away a somber truth.

Emily Williams had her prize – she just couldn’t eat it.

Williams, a Sullivan Central sophomore, blazed to a third-place finish in a personal-record 21:11.88 in the girls championship division at the 19th annual Bristol Cross meet Saturday at Steele Creek Park and received the traditional apple at the finish line as her reward.

Sadly for her, crisp apples and delicate braces go together about as well as a cross country run and a stomach full of fettuccine alfredo.

"Unfortunately not," Williams said when asked if she could sink her teeth into her trophy, "but that’s kind of a token to my family who came [to support me]."

Williams’ orthodontic bling may have prevented her from enjoying a celebratory snack, but the extra few ounces of metal in her mouth gave her no trouble on her run as she moved up two spots in the second half of the 5k race after finishing the first loop around the unrelenting course in fifth place.

"It was better than I hoped," she said about her finish. "I know this is a really rough course and I heard it was a big, pretty tough meet."

The strong showing for Williams, who won the Raider Run last week in Kingsport, Tenn., led the Cougars to a fourth-place finish in the team standings. Leslie Ecklund (10th) and Cara Napier (22nd) also turned in top-25 times for Central, which had only one girl on the team last year but has added six newcomers, including Williams, to form a solid 2010 squad.

Host-school Tennessee High finished just behind Central with a fifth-place performance in the girls championship division.

Freshman Macy Carrier showed off plenty of grit to go along with the glamour of the sparkly purple fingernail polish she sported Saturday as she smashed her PR by more than 30 seconds with a 21:38.12 run, good enough for sixth place and the best Viking performance.

"I felt great because I didn’t expect it," she said, explaining that she was just aiming for a top-25 finish.

Carrier said she tried to push herself up the multiple hills on the course and had extra motivation to do well on Tennessee High turf.

"I guess because this is our home course ... it boosted my confidence," she said.

For Williams, the course just boosted her pain.

"You’re constantly on kind of a sideways incline so it’s hard on your ankles and then it rolls up and down hills the whole time so your calves hate it, too," she said.

Rebecca Stover of Bearden in Knoxville held a near wire-to-wire lead and won the girls championship race with a time of 19:49.25. Dobyns-Bennett freshman Alexa Zimmerman was second with a 20:23.79 run.

D-B edged Bearden 53 points to 54 for the girls team title.

Bearden was no-doubt dominant in the boys championship division, recording five of the top six finishes, including Kyle Walter’s victory in 16:49.52.

The Tennessee High boys, though, did well at their home meet with three top-15 finishers and a fourth-place finish in the team standings.

Senior Andre Blow led the way for the Vikings with a 17:41.81 run for eighth place.

"It was wild, like an adventure," Blow said about taking on the challenging course. "... I was taking hills like a rock climber. I was flying down and up."

Finishing just behind Blow and also breaking 18 minutes were Tennessee High sophomores Evan Huvane and Mackay Pierce in 12th- and 14th-place, respectively.

Huvane said the strong field helped push him on.

"I’ve got a lot of competition this year," Huvane said. "It really drove me."

Pierce said he used Huvane as a marker to maintain a quick pace, knowing he’d turn in a good time if he could keep his classmate in his sights.

"I just stayed with him," Pierce said. "I just pleaded with my body the entire race to keep me going."

Prior to the two championship races in the early afternoon Saturday, a number of other local high school runners competed in the small schools division during the morning.

Lebanon junior Tabby Arwood won the girls race with a 19:59.23 run and John Battle senior Mariah Arnold came in third with a time of 21:11.55.

George Wythe’s Deanna Hedgepath (sixth) and Lebanon’s Paige Campbell (seventh) also recorded top-10 finishes.

Lebanon and John Battle runners also did well on the boys small school side with Bradley Rasnake (fourth) and Jon Ulrich (fifth) earning sub-17:40 times for the Pioneers and Brent Swiney (seventh), Matthew Fleenor (eighth) and Ben Haderer (12th) all finishing below 18:01 for the Trojans.

Marion’s highest boys finisher was Drew Richardson in ninth, but the Scarlett Hurricanes finished in third as a team between Lebanon and Battle with five runners in the top 35.

Greeneville swept both the boys and girls small schools team titles.

Including additional JV, middle school and open races, more than 1,000 runners conquered the Steele Creek hills Saturday.

"I’ve never been more excited," Pierce said. "I’ve also never been more tired, but, woo, it was a good run."

nhubbard@bristolnews.com | Twitter: @Hubbard_BHCSprt | (276) 645-2543