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Season Recap: MS Cross Country
Once the season is off and running (pun intended), it goes by in a flash. That was once again the case for the Tallulah Falls School MS cross country team, who competed in nine races in just a span of seven weeks.
The teams had a natural progression throughout the season, as individuals continued to build off prior successes. Nearly every runner set new PRs along the way, and as coach Scott Neal indicated following the final meet at the Tri-State Championships, every runner put up a personal course-best from their previous run at Rabun Gap.
For the Lady Indians, Avery Keim and Delaney Johnson were consistently at the head of the pack. Though the girls' roster was slim, all played a pivotal part in the team's success. Olivia Henderson, Mary Kate Ball, and Haylen McGugan all placed inside the top-10 in the final meet. Keim was third and Johnson runner-up in the Tri-State Championship.
The girls also featured Maeve Hatcher (12th at Tri-State), Megan Prince (13th), and Lizita Miller (DNP at Tri-State). All but Hatcher and Ball (both sixth-graders) are eighth-graders. The Lady Indians saved their best for last, claiming the Tri-State Championship for the first time since 2019. That now gives the Lady Indians four such titles (2022, 2019, 2017, 2015). The boys have claimed five (2018, 2017, 2015, 2011, 2010).
The Indians had a much larger roster to work with, and were led by eighth-grader Gavin Dodd, Ryan Anderson, and Teagan Penland. The trio consistently showed leadership by example by continuing to improve throughout the season. Dodd was sixth at the Championship meet, while Anderson was seventh and Penland ninth. Seventh-grader Sam Belk placed eighth, as the Indians came in as runner-up.
Several others showed improvement throughout the year, including Owen Earp, Josh Lander, Gavin Simmons, Peter Greiving, Sebastian York, Caleb Kelly, Morgan Martin, Steven Jackson, and Noah McClain.
"The boys and girls teams were a diverse and eclectic MS harrier group," says coach Scott Neal. "A mix of veterans who had significant improvement and newbies who also lowered times, were competitive and bonded together with genuine cohesiveness during the season. They matured as racers, created new abilities they didn’t necessarily know they could, forged mental toughness, and united with teammates to place competitively at both small and huge meets. I can confidently say that both the boys and the girls grew in every aspect of being a cross country team and can be strongly considered as one of the best TFS middle school teams in our history."