By Ashley Clegg, Submitted to The News
Brooklyn Dalton was a member of the Hurricanes Cross Country program for six years. Her last race was run on Oct. 13, 2022, with a time of 47:28.09. One week later, she was admitted to the hospital where she battled for her life until unfortunately it ended too soon on Dec. 12, 2022.
Dalton was a pivotal member of the cross country team and is remembered fondly by her family, friends, and teammates. She is described as “having the voice of an angel.”
Every year since her passing, the cross country teams at Jasper County High School have put on a meet in her honor. This year it was held on Saturday, Sept. 12, and had 523 total runners amongst the five races, from 13 middle schools and 10 high schools across the state. With spectators included, over 1,000 people witnessed what was the highest-attended meets ever held at Jasper High.
The first race of the morning tested the meet hosts immediately as it fielded an impressive 204 middle school boys along the two-mile course. The middle school boys placed 6th out of 13 teams behind Pike, Jones, Monroe, Social Circle, and Carver Middle Schools. 8th grader, and team leader, Luke Vance led the Canes with an impressive time of 12:51.40, placing him 13th overall for the team. Next behind on his heels by only two seconds was teammate Steen Harty who was 14th overall, impressive given the large number of boys in the race. Hudson (Huddy) Dietzel was the third for the team to cross the finish line, followed by Hunter Hamilton and Jasper Cambell.
Next up were the middle school girls who placed 4th out of 11 teams, falling short only to Jones, Osbourne, and Social Circle. Team leader Haiden White took home an impressive 2nd place finish and medal out of 127 total girls with a swift time of 13:49.77. First place overall was Madison Marshall from Jones County who crossed in 12:29.14. Haiden was followed by teammate Jaelyn Childers who missed a 10th place medal with a time of 15:41.66, giving her an 11th place overall finish. Madeline White, Addisyn Whatley, and Lydia Benton came in third, fourth, and fifth for the Canes.
The third race of the day was held at 9:00 am and fielded 80 varsity boy runners. Each team entered their top 8 for this race, and Jasper was able to seal 2nd out of 10 teams with a combined score of 61. Morgan County High School, a AAA school, took home first with a total combined score of 51. The first varsity boy to cross the finish line was team leader and junior, Logan Watson. Logan finished with a season best time of 18:08.26, just seconds off of his lifetime PR. This time earned him a 3rd place medal. Jacob Smallwood barely missed the 10th place medal with a time of 19:27.65, an overall 11th place finish.
Next up for the Canes was Caleb Gauntt, Bryce West, and Tatum White, who all earned season best on what is described by some as “a very challenging course.” Ryker Harty was 6th for the Canes and earned a lifetime best of 20:55.35, with teammate Olin Capes coming in right behind him in 7th for the Canes at 20:55.36.
“We are right where we want to be at this point in the season.,” said Coach Ashley Clegg. “We are strategically working towards regions, sectionals and states, and ensuring that runners peak at the perfect moment.”
Varsity girls hit the trail next where they brought home a first place finish out of eight teams. They ended up with a combined score of 42 points, Ola in 2nd with 59 points, and Morgan with an 81 combined score.
“We had three girls in the top 10. Anytime you send that many people to the medals podium, a low final team score is sure to result,” Clegg said.
Georgia Xan Bolen took home a 4th place overall medal out of 56 runners with her time of 22:43.60. She was joined in the top ten by teammates Chloe Lackey who came through at 23:35.02 and 9th overall, and Leila Sullivan who took home her 2nd medal of the season with a 10th place overall finish and a time of 23:48.59. RaeLynn Daniel and Sarah Kait-Kelly were close behind putting all point scorers for the Canes in the top 20 spots overall.
The JV teams ended the day with a combined Co-Ed Race where both the boys and girls teams took home 1st place over Perry and Morgan High. Medals were earned by Lyla Nesler with her 3rd overall finish, Kylee Adorno in 5th, Zoey Davis in 9th, and Emersyn Hoffman in 10th. The boys team also kept some hardware on the home course as Cooper Jordan, Daniel Mendoza, Matthew Murphy, Adam Brimberry, and Luke Brimberry all earned medals with their 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 10th place overall finishes.
“Overall it was an extremely successful race,” Clegg said. “We couldn’t have done it without the help of our over 50 parent and community volunteers, our amazing staff who worked tirelessly on our course to showcase what was called one of ‘the best around’, our coaches, parents, and athletes. It truly was a special day and our athletes showed up and showed out.”
The Canes will travel to Jones County this Saturday to compete in the Ranchers Release the Hounds Invitational.