Muddy Conditions Don’t Deter UC Cross Country

By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director

Union City, Tenn.–Rain and mud didn’t seem to bother the Union City Cross Country programs Saturday.

Competing in Oakland against mostly a group of larger schools in the private classification, both the Tornado high school and middle school teams endured the elements to get in some work against top-flight programs.

The Union City boys placed fifth in a nine-team field of the event, that gave out neither medals nor team trophies.

Despite the sloppy conditions that included many slips and several falls, Cedrion Cook (18:06) and BJ Frankum (18:07) placed 16^th and 17^th, respectively, in the individual portion of the race. Matthew Parr was 38^th with a time of 20:34, while Ben Martinek came in at No. 44 (22:08).

Colby Butler (50^th, 23:59) and Cameron McLendon (57^th, 27:09) were the other two Tornado finishers in the varsity race.

In the boys’ jayvee competition, Brendan Meade recorded a personal-best 23:54 time and ranked 34^th. Will Ragsdale was 57^th at 29:39, and Maddox Dunn was right behind his teammate with a time of 30:01, good for 58^th place.

The UC girls were shorthanded for various reasons, leaving freshmen Bailey Wagoner and Jorge Frankum to compete against a field of mostly juniors and seniors. Wagoner placed 20^th with a time of 26:14, and Frankum was 30^th at 32:13.

The UCMS boys claimed runner-up honors and the Lady Tornadoes were third in a six-team field, ignoring messy conditions to post strong showings.

Individually, Owen Waggoner was fourth with a time of 17:18 to represent the Tornadoes’ top finish. Rushdon Howell was sixth (17:57), Andrew Beard seventh (18:23) and Woodrow McKinnis 12^th at 18:36.

Other finishers for Union City included Landon McAdams (25, 20:56), Foster Rodgers (36^th, 28:02), Brandt Huffstutter (37^th, 29:49) and Cole Gurley (38^th, 30:42).

Briley McKinney had the best time of any UCMS girl, coming in at 20:49, for 12^th place. Myranda Parr was 19^th (24:05), Rori Howell 20^th (24:36) and Lexi Petty 21^st at 25:16.

Also crossing the finish line were Davey Frankum (24^th, 27:15), Jamya Fair (25^th, 27:16), Dani Frankum (26^th, 27:32), MaryKate Sinclair (27^th, 29:51), Zoe Cox (28^th, 29:54), Natalie Long (30^th, 29:58) and Lily Surr (31^st, 30:19).