The Gilmer High Bobcats and Lady Cats have made a habit of qualifying for the state cross-country meet, and both will be in attendance again this season.
They secured their spots in the postseason when both finished as region runners-up at last Tuesday’s Region 6-4A Championships at Roper Park in Jasper.
Along with their second-place team finishes came the top prize for Lady Cat Naomi Coombs, who won the girls 5K by more than 32 seconds. The GHS junior crossed the finish line in 20:43.00, ahead of Southeast Whitfield’s Guadalupe Martinez in 21:15.36.
Following two Pickens Dragons at the top of the boys standings was Bobcat Dylan Byrd in third at 17:40.59. Byrd missed second place by just six tenths of a second.
The Bobcats and Lady Cats both performed better than expected, and coach Tommy Jones believed it was due to some precise planning.
“We always do a prediction (based on previous teams’ race results), and we were both picked to finish third and were closer to fourth place than second,” he said. “The thing that was so great is we discussed the optimal pace they needed to run (at each mile marker), and everyone was on their mile time exactly.
“It was amazing. It was some of the best racing I’ve seen from a team. In all my years (including 21 as a coach at Gilmer), Dylan Byrd might have run the smartest race I’ve ever seen. Naomi Coombs ran her race to the second.”
Jones held Coombs back early, and the tactic paid off. After a mile, Coombs was 30 seconds off the lead. Over the remainder of the race, she erased that deficit and left competitors in her dust.
“We knew her main completion was probably going to go out fast, and Naomi likes to go right out there with them and compete,” Jones said. “I told her, ‘You’re going to have to lay back.’ Naomi looked great, and the other two girls were already breathing hard (over the last half of the race) because they wore themselves out.”
Aside from Coombs, Gilmer’s freshman tandem of Helana Garland (22:33.33) and Madison Stanley (22:51.81) turned in top-10 finishes in seventh and ninth place, respectively.
Coombs, Garland and Stanley all earned spots on the all-region team for their placements.
Ashley Spagnola was not far behind the GHS trio in 12th place at 23:41.78. Following Lady Cat Mallory Henson (25:26.31) in 28th were Laney Hensley (31st, 26:03.57) and Anna Byrd (39th, 27:58.57).
On the boys side, Pickens captured its fifth region championship in seven seasons. They secured first and second place in the boys 5K, as well as fourth and eighth in the top 10.
Gilmer teammates Jakob Dobbs and Austin Long finished ninth and 10th with respective times of 18:21.29 and 18:26.59. Byrd, Dobbs and Long all earned spots on the boys all-region team.
Ricky Ambrosio-Perez and Nate Mooney also scored team points for GHS. Ambrosio-Perez posted a time of 19:02.88 for 14th while Mooney placed 22nd in 19:22.86.
Carson Purvis (24th, 19:26.21) and Jon Nix (33rd, 19:56.96) were Gilmer’s remaining competitors.
Pickens (31 points), Gilmer (58), Southeast Whitfield (74) and Heritage (90) will all advance to the boys Class 4A state meet.
Behind Southeast (48) and GHS (57) on the girls side were state qualifiers Heritage (67) and Pickens (71).
“Since I’ve been coaching, we’ve never had region winner,” Jones said of Coombs’ accomplishment before adding, “We’ve had some good placers, but it was probably back in the ’90s when we last had one.
“To have both teams place second, that’s probably the best combined finish we’ve had in my 21 years. It was amazing, especially (considering) where I thought this team was at the start of the season. They’ve made a lot of gains, and I’m happily surprised.”
A junior varsity race of both boys and girls was run following the varsity.
GHS runners included Andrew Mooney (20:39.06), Larz Fowler (20:48.30), Melvin Oxlaj (21:04.65), Ethan Cole (21:54.75), Jesse Hernandez-Murillo (23:07.18), Drew Little (23:23.19), Marcello Valle (23:23.98), Marcos Alonzo (28:02.94) and Olivia Lykins (28:41.38).
The GHSA Cross-Country State Championships will be Friday at Carrollton High School. The Class 4A race is scheduled to start at 9 a.m.