Cross Country finds success at state
Lady Panthers finish 11th, Panthers finish 13th against stiff competition
By JARED PUTNAM

Senior T.J. Burgess.

Both the Panthers and Lady Panthers cross country teams put on strong showings at the state competition over the weekend, placing 13th and 11th respectively.

Head Coach Jackie Hughes was very pleased with the boys performance. "I noticed going into it that the competition this year was a lot harder than last year," said Coach Hughes. "I was just thinking that even if we could get in the top 15 we would be alright. Overall the performance was better than I had a nticipated [in light of] the level of competition. I really think that our 11th place this year was just as good, if not harder earned than our 9th place last year. I was very happy. Most of them that I had that ran it last year, improved their time th is year. That made me feel really good."

Union County finished in 11th place overall with 302 points, just three points behind 10th place Westside. The boys team was led by Chris Jones, who finished a phenomenal season with an 11th place finish out of 215 very talented runners. "That was extremely, extremely good," said the coach. "He gave it everything he had to get that 11th place."

Alex Litman followed Jones with a time of 18:39 (48th overall),

along with Beau Kelley at 19:19 (82nd overall), Ian Thomas at 19:31 (88th overall), Victor Gonzalez at 19:48 (92nd overall), T.J. Burgess at 20:13 (116th overall), and Shane Kelley at 20:24 (125th overall).

Coach Hughes was equally thrilled with the showing by her young girls team, who finished 13th overall with 371 points, just 5 points behind Banks County. "At the beginning of the year, as young as they were, I was outside hopeful that we would get to state. They performed extremely well."

The Lady Panthers were led by Emma Krier, who ran a time of 23:22 (59th overall out of 201 runners). "For her first time running that, that's a very good time," said Coach Hughes, who explained that Krier was injured last year.

Erika Bunpermkoon came in second for Union with a time of 24:05 (70th overall), followed by Hannah Dohogne at 24:22 (75th overall), Katy Browning at 25:22 (97th overall), Hannah Thomas at 25:35 (104th overall), Monica Garcia at 25:48 (110th overall), and Jasmin Gonzalez at 26:07 (118th overall).

"To me they put together an even better effort than they did [at regionals]," said Coach Hughes. "I was as pleased as could be. They showed what you can do when you have

heart. They just battled all season long and just kept getting better and better. I hope they feel as good ab out themselves as I feel about them because they really blossomed there at the end and found out what they could do and I think its really going to do us well into next season."

Coach Hughes added that she wanted to thank Appalachian Community Bank a nd United Community Bank for their support of the team throughout the season.

"The kids appreciate it and I appreciate it a whole bunch," said Coach Hughes. "It makes them feel special and it gives us all the more incentive to get back there next year."