CROSS-COUNTRY PREVIEW
Gilmer High School cross-country will have to be at its best to keep its postseason streaks alive.
A drop to Class 3A brings a new region and its members are no strangers to success.
Head coach Tommy Jones put the Bobcats and Lady Cats through their paces in the preseason, and the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic may have been a factor in the program’s increased turnout.
Participation peaked at around 25 runners per day while Jones had been lucky to get five out during most summers.
“The crazy thing is, I probably had the best participation I’ve ever had over a summer,” Jones said. “For the kids, I think (after) the March till the end of May quarantine, I had all kinds of kids coming to run. It was a record number of kids for the summer.”
The team met during June and July for runs. Jones mostly concentrated on flat-ground work with some hills incorporated into conditioning.
“We just met and ran everyday and got miles in,” Jones said. “For a lot of the kids, they probably got more miles than they ever have.”
While numbers were up, the pandemic caused plenty of uncertainty for the program.
“Nothing comes close to this,” Jones said. “I can’t even tell you how many times we’ve had to change our schedule. It’s a constant thing; from rescheduling, to cancellations and everything.”
Official in-season practice began earlier this month. There are currently 18 boys and seven girls in the program. However, a COVID curveball was dealt to the team when Jones was forced to quarantine for 14 days after a possible exposure to the virus.
Assistant coach April Nicholson ran practice for two weeks. Jones sent daily practice plans and they remained in contact throughout.
“I have a training plan for them and it’s just a practice plan,” Jones said. “April and I talk everyday after practice to talk about how things have gone. We just had our parent meeting and they had me on Google Meet online to be part of the meeting. It has been a lot of phone calls and texts.”
Nicholson discussed the situation, noting, “The last two weeks have been an adjustment not only with preparing for the new school year but also trying to get the team ready for our first race.
“Gilmer running and Tommy Jones are synonymous with one another, so to have the responsibility of preparing the team for their first race of the season without him was daunting.”
Jones has been an avid runner his entire life so time away from the team has been difficult.
“This has been the worst. I’ve probably missed more practices recently than I have in my whole career combined,” Jones said with a chuckle. “That has been the rough part, but April has been doing great with them.”
Jones noted some runners from last year’s team opted not to return this season. Some runners are also still in need of a physical before they are able to participate.
Jones discussed those who he believed will be some of the runners the Bobcats and Lady Cats depend on this year.
Dylan Byrd and John Nix return for their senior seasons, as does junior Carson Purvis while freshman John Keener enters the fold.
“Dylan will probably be our top runner,” Jones said. “But I’ll tell you what, Carson may sneak up and take the No. 1 spot from him. Carson looked really good this summer and right before I got quarantined he looked great.
“John Keener was one our standout middle schoolers and won the Middle School Elite Championship. John (Nix) is coming back and was our No. 5 runner last year.”
The Lady Cats will be led by senior Naomi Coombs. She will be backed by the sophomore contingent of Helena Garland, Madison Stanley, Laney Hensley and Mallory Henson, as well as freshman Amalia Perez.
“Naomi will be our top girl for sure,” Jones said. “We have four really good sophomores who are back. I would guess Helena will be our No. 2 runner and then Madison will probably be our No. 3. We do have a new freshman Amalia Perez, and she looked really great over the summer. I’ll almost guarantee she’ll be one of our top five.”
In recent seasons, cross-country has been one of the most successful fall sports at GHS when it comes to qualifying for state. The Bobcats are currently on a seven-year postseason streak and the Lady Cats have attended the past four state meets.
The Bobcats and Lady Cats will need to finish in the top four of their respective region races to qualify again. However, after a drop from Class 4A to 3A, that task has become more difficult.
New region opponents standing in their way include White County, Dawson County, Union County, North Hall, West Hall and Cherokee Bluff.
“I haven’t looked at every region, but we have got to be in one of the toughest regions in the whole state,” Jones said. “In the old region, it wasn’t the toughest by any stretch.
“North Hall is loaded, and Dawson County has gotten incredibly good. I don’t know if it’s that Hwy. 400 pipeline or what. And White County’s girls were second in state last year. That new school, Cherokee Bluff, I’m hearing they’re really good. As far as qualifying for state, we may be on the outside looking in. It’s going to be a real battle for us.”
GHS began the season last Saturday at the Pickens Peek.