CROSS COUNTRY GOING TO STATE

The Elkmont Red Devils are going to the State Cross County Meet! Who would have thought we would have temperatures in the high 70’s for the sectional meet in November? It was definitely a warm day for these athletes to put it all on the line to qualify for the state meet! 

The sectional meet was hosted by Wilson High Schoolin Florence, November 3. The boys qualified as a team for the state meet by placing third and the girls team is sending Claudia Allen and Melanie Hernandez to state. The girls team placed fourth overall.  

The boys anxiously lined the starting boxes and the race kicked off at 10:20 am. At the one mile, our EHS leaders, Chase Prater and Chance Bailey, were in 2nd and 4th place. Chase was right on the shoulder of Lauderdale County’s Tyler Newton and Chance was close behind Lauderdale County’s Weston Bowling. By the second mile, both of the EHS runners overtook their Lauderdale County competitors and made tremendous strides at keeping ahead of them and earned All Section honors by placing in the top 10 overall. 

Chase Prater was the 3A-Section 3 Champion with a time of 17:09.79 and Chance Bailey was third overall with a time of 17:47.04. The rest of the boys team also ran a great race with all of the Running Red Devils finishing under 22 minutes. 

The boys times/places are as follows: 

Chase Prater – 17:09.79 – 1st 

Chance Bailey – 17:47.04 – 3rd 

Christian Smith – 20:40.57 – 20th 

Tiyler Walts – 20:41.20 – 22nd 

Brantley Hammock – 20:44.65 – 24th 

Alex Armstrong – 20:49.16 – 26th 

Noah Sharp – 21:05.78 – 29th 

Van Hamlin – 21:06.59 – 30th 

Luke Little – 21:46.03 – 35th 

JonMikel Owens – 21:47.46 – 36th 

The Lady Red Devils, again very anxiously, took the starting line at 11:25. Claudia Allen maintained her 6th place position throughout the remainder of the race and earned All Section honors by finishing in the top 10 overall. 

The girls times/places are as follows: 

Claudia Allen – 23:04.70 – 6th 

Melanie Hernandez – 25:42.53 – 20th 

Kaylee Varnie – 26:29.83 – 27th 

Jazmin Ristau – 26:56.12 – 30th 

Emma Guthrie – 27:04.62 – 31st 

Brianna Barnett – 27:26.86 – 34th 

Ariel Hernandez – 27:47.08 – 37th 

Nikki Ristau – 27:53.26 – 38th 

Congratulations to all the Running Red Devils! The state meet will be on Saturday, Nov 12 at the Indian Mounds Park in Moulton/Danville. Come cheer them on!

Coach Pugh's Corner:
We have been at it since June 3rd! 7am morning/6pm evening runs in the summer to after school hills and speed work. A week of camp and many races behind us. XC is the longest school sport around! These guys have put in a lot of hard work, sweat and yes, some tears.  They have worked for this day all season. I want them all to remember they have earned the right to finish hard and strong and no matter the outcome this coach is proud of them. You can't spend the time we spend with these kids and not develop a deep love and respect for each of them. They become my heroes and impress me with their drive! Watching a kid succeed is the best feeling around!