By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
NASHVILLE – Mission accomplished.
With a pre-race goal of finishing in the Top 8 in the Small School Division of the boys’ state cross country meet Saturday, Union City did that and one place better.
The Golden Tornadoes – who were 18th last year in their first-ever appearance in the team event – came in seventh among 23 teams at the race held at Percy Warner Park.
UC’s strong finish was the second-best among rural West Tennessee teams in the meet, behind only Madison Academic, which was fifth. The Tornadoes totaled 229 points.
University School of Johnson City (79) won the state title, with Signal Mountain (94) claiming runner-up honors.
The future looks even more bright for the Twister boys’ squad, which has just one senior (Taylor Pickering), one junior (Reice Gray) and will return its top four finishers in Saturday’s state competition next year.
Sophomores BJ Frankum, Dalton Bone and Matthew Parr were 19th, 24th and 41st, respectively, in the 182-runner field. Freshman Cedrion Cook posted Union City’s fourth-best time Saturday and finished in 58thplace.
“I’m thinking Top 5, but the boys are saying Top 3,” head coach Katie Parr responded when asked what the 2019 campaign might hold for the Twisters and what their goals would be next season.
“Our goal this year was Top 8, and we were able to reach that. We’ll have some really good internal individual competition next year with most of our guys back and, the way they improved this year and the way the push each other and encourage each other, it really makes for a good team environment.
“I’m just so proud of them all and the hard work they’ve put in.”
Frankum’s time of 18:23 on the 3.1 mile course was UC’s best Saturday. Bone finished at 18:34, Parr was clocked at 18:58 and Cook registered a 19:20.
Emerson Fulton of Gatlinburg-Pittman was the individual champion with a time of 16:41.
Pickering came in with a time of 21:10 and placed 133rd for the Tornadoes, while Gray finished at 21:26 and was 137th. Cameron McLendon, another freshman, reached the finish line at 26:41, which put him in 177th place.
There were 182 runners in all in the boys’ field.
Union City’s Katelyn Edmond had a good showing in the girls’ racing, finishing in the middle of the pack.
Edmond, a senior making her first appearance in the event, was clocked at 25:29. That time was good for No. 85 in the 171-runner field.
“I’m just so elated with Katelyn,” Parr said. “Getting here was one thing, but her performance here was another. She fought tooth-and-nail just to qualify, then today I was pushing her at the two-mile mark and she passed six girls there.
“She ran a really good race and had a great senior year.”
Dresden’s Loral Wynn was the individual champion with a time of 19:37, leading a Lion squad that placed fourth as a team.
Signal Mountain was first and University School of Johnson City was second.
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