Youth served for Lions at state meet

Posted: Wednesday, November 7, 2012 12:00 pm

By KEVIN WEAKS
Press Sports
NASHVILLE — The future looks bright.
The present is pretty good, too.
Dresden wrapped up another solid prep cross country season Saturday at the TSSAA Class A-AA State Meet at the Percy Warner State Park Steeplechase Course with the girls’ team and a runner from the boys’ squad competing.
Catey Delaney and Donavan Davis, both freshmen, led the Lion contingent.
Delaney had the highest finish among the girls’ squad, which was making its second consecutive state meet appearance, with a 24th-place run, clocking a 22:47.98. Davis, meanwhile, finished well inside the upper half of the 189-runner field with an 85th-place spot in a time of 19:45.67.
“Catey has been a strong runner all year for us,” Dresden coach Wendi Maxey said. “She medaled in every race she ran in this year. We expect great things from her and Eve Woodson, who is also a freshman and has also improved her time since the first of the year.
“Donovan did great also for his first appearance at state level. I was very proud of him for coming in 85th place. As he gets stronger, I expect to see great things from him.”
Led by Delaney, the Lady Lions finished 18th out of 23 teams with a total time of 2:18:24.09, averaging 27:40.82.
Theresa Minisquero, a senior, was next for Dresden, placing 104th in 25:33.92, while Woodson was 137th in 27:36.59.
Senior Katlin Brown posted a time of 28:35.40, junior Alyssa Lilly finished in 33:50.20, and senior Laura Bell ran the course in 39:12.26
“This meet was a learning experience for these girls,” Maxey said. “West Tennessee was well-represented with Obion Central finishing third. That shows how tough our regional is, and we were proud to be part of that.”
Davis got off to a solid start with a time of 5:47 through the first mile and went on to place seventh among the runners from Region 7. He outran all seven Obion Central runners.
By the time the two A-AA races came up on the day’s schedule, temperatures were in the low 70s under a sunny sky with a slight breeze.
“These kids work extremely hard all year and will continue working for next year,” Maxey said. “They are some of the most athletic kids I know. The weather was a lot warmer Saturday, which had an effect on the kids’ times, but I was very pleased with them all.”
Barbara Ball of Lipscomb pulled away from the field early to win the girls’ individual state title with a time of 19:09.42, while Christian Academy of Knoxville was the state team champion.
Samantha Jelinek of South Gibson topped Region 7 runners with a time of 21:21.50, good for 12th overall.
Sam Klockenkemper of Martin Luther King won the boys’ meet in a time of 16:34.88, while Greeneville took the team state title.
Daniel Williamson of Union City was the fastest from Region 7, placing 10th overall in 17:30.21. Published in The WCP 11.6.12