Jets Dominate Wingfoot Classic
Cartersville, Ga.- James Clemens made a statement at the recent Wingfoot Classic Cross Country Championship as both the boys and girls squads finished among the top five teams with the Jets taking home the championship trophy in dominant fashion winning the boys meet by 25 points. Coupled together, the Wingfoot Cup was awarded to James Clemens.
James Clemens scored 161 points and averaged 16:09 in the boys division to take the title in the eighth annual meet held under the lights in Cartersville, Ga., while the Lady Jets took fifth place scoring 220 points with an average finish of 19:57. Both squads were the top finishers from the schools which represented the State of Alabama. Schools from Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina also participated in what is regarded as one of the top cross country events in the country.
Luke Alverson, currently ranked No. 2 among schools in Class 7A in Alabama, was second overall and set a new school record in the process with a time of 15:15 while on a 4:55 pace. Teammate Cole Robinson finished 14th with a 15:40 and was named among the All-Elite runners for the meet.
In girls, the Jets had their best effort of the season seeded No. 9, but with strong finishes by Kylie Gero (18th-19:00) and Emma Bothern (25th– 19:20), the squad turned a spectacular fifth place finish. For Gero, her time was a personal best and is now second in school history to Liz Holcomb who set the top mark of 18:56.85 in 2014.
In junior varsity competition, the James Clemens girls were a runner-up finish with three of them earning All-Elite status for the meet. Those included 9. senior Ashlyn Diehl (21:37.3), 10. sophomore Claire Colo (21:38.1) and 12. junior Molly Herndon (21:43.2). For the boys, the Jets finished at No. 10 as a team while freshman Luke Bogardus completed his race at 18:07.4 earning All-Elite with a seventh place finish.
