PREP CROSS COUNTRY: Auburn High sweeps Tiger Classic

Auburn High’s boys and girls cross country teams went into Saturday’s Tiger Classic expecting a stiff test from the boys and girls squads from Bob Jones.

The Tigers got it. And they passed.

Auburn swept the boys and girls races at Kiesel Park, with the boys edging the Patriots, 28-33, and the girls beating No. 3 Bob Jones,
27-36.

“For the first time all season, I will say that we started to run fast,” boys coach Dan Norton said. “We ran better than I expected. We ran on what I felt was a harder course than we ran last week (at Smiths Station), and we ran faster.”

Senior Jason Miller paced Auburn’s boys, ranked fifth in the state, and the rest of the field with a 16:46, moving from a pack just off the lead after the first mile, taking the lead before the second and lengthening it until the finish line.

The rest of the team followed suit.

“We have struggled all year between mile 1 and 2,” Norton said. “The one thing we wanted to accomplish was to run the first mile like we had been running, and then we had to make up ground on people between mile 1 and 2. Everybody’s goal on the team was to catch five people, if there were five people in front of them. And most of them did that.”

Other scorers for the Tigers were sophomore Jackson Carter (fourth in the large school division and overall, 17:09), junior Mark McDonald (eighth, 17:17), junior Youssef Biaz (ninth, 17:27) and senior Michael Waldrop (10th, 17:28).

Opelika sophomore Cordaryl Whitehead finished second in the race with a 16:57, and Smiths Station junior Jesse Crouch finished sixth with a 17:17. The Panthers finished third out of eight in the team standings, Tallassee finished seventh and Central finished eighth.

With sectionals three weeks away, Norton said Saturday’s race was a very encouraging sign.

“I’m pumped,” Norton said.

The Tigers’ girls, ranked No. 2 in the state, had a 42-second split from their first runner to their fourth and a 1:02 split from one to five.

Sophomore Amanda Patterson, who led Auburn by finishing the 5-kilometer course in 20:15, passed Bob Jones’ top two runners in the final mile to finish second in the large school girls race — behind Prattville’s Kristin Parry — and fifth overall.

The Tigers’ other scoring runners were sophomore Christine Patterson (fifth and eighth, 20:29), senior Haley Davies (sixth and ninth, 20:55), freshman Frances Beasley (seventh and 10th, 20:57) and senior Courtney Ruggles (12th and 16th, 21:17).

Smiths Station finished fourth out of five teams in the girls race, with senior Yalonda Taylor leading the way with a 21:48.

Auburn also won the junior high boys and girls 3K races, with the boys beating Smiths Station, 32-35, and the girls beating Montgomery Academy, 19-50. Opelika finished third in the boys race and Smiths Station finished third in the girls.

Smiths Station freshman Zach Buckner won the boys race in 10:44, edging Auburn freshman Will Pinyan by 4 seconds, and Opelika eighth grader Emma Garner won the girls race in 11:27, with Auburn seventh grader Jordan Phillpot coming in second at 12:46.

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