Several hundred high school cross country runners gathered on the lower fields at Baylor School for the weekly running of the Chattanooga Cross Country League competition and a pattern is starting to develop.
Cumberland County's Ben Tabor proved that last week's win at Camp Jordan wasn't a fluke as he won for the second straight week with a time of 16:30. And Baylor freshman Addison Smith won her first varsity race with a time of 19:33 on her home course on the final day of summer.
As you might expect for this time of year, it was hot and humid and a little bit dusty. But that didn't keep these young folks from putting their best feet forward as they raced the clock and each other as they worked to get just a little bit better.
Baylor's Smith was the girls winner while Kathryn Vradenburgh of the Chattanooga Patriots was second in 1949. Cumberland County sophomore Sydney Tabor, Ben's younger sister, moved up a spot from last week to finish third in 19:57 while Carley Braman of GPS and Grace Carlson of Baylor completed the first five with times of 20:08 and 20:16, respectively.
Ben Tabor broke from the pack early in the boys race as he set the pace from the beginning.
Pokela let him go as he chose to run a more conservative first half with Heritage senior Ryan Gebelein. Jonathan Boyd of the Chattanooga Patriots was even further back in fourth place.
Tabor never backed down from his blistering early pace as he won with a time of 16:30 while Pokela rallied before settling for the runner-up spot in 16:33. Gebelein was third in 16:35 while Boyd stayed fourth in 16:56. Heritage junior Jerryd Tennyson was fifth in 17:20.
Baylor's Smith has gone out fast every time she's raced in recent weeks, but she was able to hang on for her first win. She ran a strong race after finishing fourth at the Tennessee Classic last Saturday in Nashville with a time of 20:07.
"I wanted to get out hard and keep the pace. That was my strategy today," said Smith shortly after she crossed the finish line between the baseball fields.
"It was hot, but I felt strong the whole way. And running on our campus seemed to help a lot," the petite freshman added.
While a new course was used this week for the first time ever, which included moving the finish line, Vradenburgh wasn't really very happy about the parts of the course where they had to run on gravel.
"It was good except for the gravel," she said while hanging out with teammates after the race ended.
"The gravel made it tough. I'm not really pleased with my time as I just wanted to be faster than last week, but I'm a long way from my personal best. The Baylor girl took off from the start and basically had the same lead the whole way," the slender blonde explained.
Tabor felt the same way as many others as she wasn't familiar with the new course at all.
"I really didn't know where I was going and that seemed to slow me down a little bit, but that last lap just added more turns. I'm not very happy with my time as I was hoping to be near 19:30. I was able to pass four or five girls in that last mile, so I'm happy about that, but I should have done more training this summer as I'm paying the price now," the 15-year-old sophomore explained.
Ben Tabor appeared to be on a mission as he wanted to prove that last week's win was no fluke. He broke from the starting line and never looked back as he led from start to finish.
"I like the new course," he said while relaxing under the Cumberland County tent that was pitched in the field next to the Baylor Lake.
"It was a good day for me, but I knew I had to start fast because I knew that Ryan and Anders would be right there with me. The gap I created gave me a little time to think, but those other guys all ran great races today.
"My times are getting progressively faster and that's my goal," he nodded.
Pokela's early decision proved to be costly as he never regained the lead after the race started.
"It turned out to be a close race, but I let him go at the beginning as I thought I'd be able to catch him later. He had about a nine-second lead in the final mile and I was able to get within two seconds, but that was a really gutsy race that Ben ran.
"It was definitely a good race for me. I'm proud that I could run a strong race for Cameron," he concluded with a serious tone, referring to former Baylor standout Cameron Bean, who died on Monday after getting hit by a car while running on Saturday.
Gebelein hasn't won a league race yet, but he's proving from week to week that he's certainly a contender and that his presence causes others around him to run a little bit better.
"It was a good one as I have never run here before and it was nice and hot," he said after his work had ended.
"Ben took off at the beginning and never looked back. I was hoping to be around 16:30, so I'm pretty happy," he nodded.
Both Baylor teams were victorious as the girls finished with 45 points while Heritage was second with 56. GPS was a distant third with 145.
Baylor beat Heritage in the boys competition as well with the Red Raiders taking first with 80 and the Generals second with 88. Dalton was third with 128.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)