It was hot and humid and not the most ideal conditions for a cross country race, but that didn’t seem to hinder Josie Group and Zach Long as they raced to individual victories in the annual PowerAde Invitational at Moccasin Bend Saturday morning.
Group, a German exchange student who is attending Ooltewah High School, was the class of the girls’ field as she covered the triple-loop 5K course in 19 minutes, 58 seconds.
Baylor’s Grace Carlson was second in 20:26 while Hannah Sokol of Dobyns-Bennett was third in 21:18.
Zach Long, a highly-recruited senior from Grainger High School, was the fastest guy as he crossed the line in 16 minutes, 11 seconds, defeating runner-up Ian Hodge of Farragut by 19 seconds.
Baylor’s Jackson Goodwin was third in 16:51.
Farragut’s boys totaled 30 points to beat Baylor, which was second with 43. Bearden was a distant third with 104.
Farragut’s girls were also victorious as they finished with 44 points to 57 for runner-up Baylor. GPS was third with 80.
The Farragut boys had its top first five finishers in the top 10 with Louis Morris following Hodge in fourth while Wilson Ekern, Reed Anderson and Connor Bihlmeyer were seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.
While Goodwin was Baylor's first finisher, teammates Alex Sumida and John Carlson both ran strong to finish fifth and sixth, respectively.
Heather Winter (fourth) and Katy Delahunt (eighth) finished in the top 10 for the Farragut girls while Carlson and Schatzman (tenth) were in the same group for Baylor.
Carly Braman had a time of 21:40 to take fifth for GPS while teammate Murfee Jones was right behind in sixth with a time of 21:53.
Long was in a group including Hodge and Goodwin for the first lap before stretching his lead as the race progressed. The 17-year-old senior for the Grizzlies was satisfied with the way things turned out.
“I was under control for the first mile as I had a 5:10, but I started to pull away in the second mile. I had created a gap and that’s when I decided to go for it. I’m just trying to get back in rhythm, so overall I’m happy with the way things turned out,” he said while sipping water under a shade tree just past the finish chute.
Hodge was equally as happy with his time.
“I went out with Zach at the start as I felt really good. I was hoping to run in the mid 16s, so I ran exactly what I wanted. It’s mentally tough with the three loops, but I can keep a consistent pace when there are no hills. I got challenged by the Baylor guy in the second mile, but was able to hold him off,” the Farragut senior nodded.
Goodwin has turned into a really good runner. Saturday’s race was somewhat disappointing for him and his teammates, but considering the date and the conditions, it was better than they originally thought.
“It was humid, but I’m happy with my time for right now. I tried to keep up, but his pace was just better than mine today,” Goodwin said about his challenge with Hodge.
Group was running unattached on Saturday as she awaits her paperwork to be completed through the TSSAA. She was all by herself from the start. Carlson trimmed the gap on the second loop, but the petite German maintained her composure and her pace to win by 28 seconds.
“I thought I might be a bit faster, but it was hot out here today,” she began shortly after her race had ended.
“I do a lot of sprint triathlons, so I’m mentally tough, but the shade was nice and the course was flat,” she smiled.
Carlson normally starts out too fast in the first mile, but she ran a much smarter race on Saturday and she was happy with the results.
“I thought it was a good day as this is one of my favorite races. I tried to fix the mistakes from past races and I hope that my times will improve,” she offered in a quiet tone.
“I tried to catch up in the third mile, but she was too far ahead. But how can you not be pleased with a second-place finish?” she concluded.
Brian Hitchcox is the Ooltewah coach for the first year after making a name for himself as an outstanding baseball coach. He’s just happy that Josie is on his team and hopes that all of the red tape can be straightened out before the season ends.
“She’s a talented young lady and really serious about this sport, but she’s a German exchange student who will just be here one year. She fits in good with members of our team and other students at Ooltewah as at least 50 of them speak fluent German. I just hope that she gets to run for something that counts before she leaves,” Hitchcox nodded.
Baylor coaches Jan Gautier and Heather Ott were both pleased with the way their respective teams ran.
“Farragut has a very good team and they’re hard to beat,” Gautier said.
“My guys aren’t real happy with their times, but I’m really proud of their effort. It’s good for us to race against good teams like Farragut as that’s what makes you better. We need to work on our gaps just a little bit, but this was a great race for us and we’re right where we need to be for the first week in September,” she added.
Ott originally thought that her Lady Red Raiders had finished first, but a mistake in the individual results reversed that call and Farragut’s girls were declared the champions.
“We ended up not winning as there was a mistake in the results. But for 20 minutes, we were the proud champions of the PowerAde Invitational,” Ott said later.
“I thought we looked great today. We had a hard practice on Thursday and I’m sure their legs were heavy today. Given how we ran today, I’ll take second place and be really proud.
“Grace Carlson has been working hard on her race strategy and she executed her race plan wisely. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her run that smooth and she had a nice strong finish.
“Rachel Schatzman also ran tough and I’m so proud of Jennie Kwon. She’s a senior and our captain. She is reaping the rewards from a summer of hard work and it’s taken a while for her to believe in herself, but she also had a great race today,” the veteran coach suggested.
Next week’s regular-season meet for the Chattanooga Cross Country League had been schedule for Camp Fort Bluff in Dayton, but there was a conflict and that meet has been reset for Baylor on Thursday afternoon.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)