Huntsville Metro Cross Country Meet

HUNTSVILLE- Both Bob Jones and James Clemens cross country teams fared well at the 2017 Huntsville Metro Cross Country Championship held at John Hunt Park in the Rocket City, but it was the individual efforts of two junior high runners from James Clemens that highlighted the annual event.

Sarah Shirley and teammate Sydney Freeman finished one-two, earned All-Metro honors and set personal records in the 2-mile race. Shirley, a ninth grader, won the girls’ junior high division with a time of 13-minutes, 20-seconds. Freeman, an eighth grader, was close behind in second place with a time of 13:21.5. The effort of the two young Jets pushed James Clemens to a team first place trophy. James Clemens had two other runners place in the top five as Nikki Lipski (8, 13:34.2) was fourth and Harley Samsil (7, 14:04.9) was fifth. Leading Bob Jones was Anna Digges (7, 15:08.0) who posted a finish of No. 14.

Bob Jones took second place to Huntsville in the boys’ junior high division while James Clemens was third. The winning Panthers dominated the event with the top six finishers. John Mark Ingalls (9, 11:43.7) of James Clemens was seventh. Mateo Santiago of Bob Jones led the Patriots (8, 11:44.5) in eighth place.

In varsity action, Bob Jones finished second to Huntsville in boys. Patriot’s sophomore Jean Pierre Leroux placed second overall with a time of 16:30.7. Top runners for James Clemens, which finished fourth in team standings, was Alex Shah (11, 17:10.5).

In varsity girls, Huntsville also took that division while James Clemens came in third. Leading the Jets were Jenna Shereyk (11, 20:38.7) in eighth place and Elizabeth Holcomb (11, 20:39.3) in ninth. Top performer for Bob Jones was Hannah Thuss (9, 21:07.3).

The 2017 season is winding down with the Section Meet set for Nov. 2-4 and the State Meet scheduled for Nov. 11 in Moulton.