Cross-country starts with two top 10 finishes

Cannon County’s boys and girls raced to impressive finishes at the Voyles Classic at Sharp Springs Park in Smyrna.

The Lions finished ninth out of 26 teams with an average time 19:18.62 for the boys 5K. The Lionettes finished 10th out of 19 teams competing with an average time of 25:15.03 for the girls 5K.

“Overall, I was pleased with the results,” Cannon County coach Marc Larson said. “We have been conditioning hard and the athletes have put in a great deal of work and effort. That paid off in this meet. We have some people out injured so it was good to see others step up and run well.”

Sophomore Marshall McReynolds led the Lions with a 30th-place finish with a time of 18:05.96. His average mile was 5:49. Jordan Turney, a mainstay during last year’s debut season, got off to a good start with a 38th-place finish. Turney ran a 18:37.16 and averaged 5:59.6 each mile.

Jake Burdick (6:18.6) finished 65th and Devin Burgess (6:19.4) finished 68th overall. Rounding out the scoring for Cannon County was Clay Luker (6:53.0) and Will Bailey (6:53.9). Walker Hatfield, Umar Rasul, Sam Sissom and TJ Paul also participated.

The Lionettes are participating without Hannah Faulkner, who is out with an achilles injury. Faulkner was the team’s top runner and advanced to the state tournament as a freshman in 2011.

Elva Magana led the Lionettes overall with a finish of 39th in 23:33.37. Macy Clements finished 49th overall with a 24:07.51.

Also scoring for Cannon County was Jessica Elmy (67th, 26:01), Madison Walkup (69th, 26:06) and Sarah Hickman (77th, 26:25). Katie Hickman, Lauren Turney and Autumn King also participated.