Rebekah Smith and Andrew Jackson lead another Thomasville sweep in Region 1-AA

It's not true that Thomasville High teams always win the Region 1-AA cross-country meet. Why, just five years ago the Fitzgerald boys took home the 2009 Region 1 title. Of course, even that year the Thomasville boys were no worse than second, and the Thomasville girls won their race. And every year since then the Thomasville Bulldogs have claimed the Region titles, both boys and girls.


This year was no exception. The Bulldogs pulled off yet another sweep of the Region 1-AA team titles, this time on the course at Pebble Hill on Wednesday morning, 29 October 2014.


The Bulldogs' big day started with the girls' 5K race at 10:30 AM. Just four day earlier, Thomasville junior Rebekah Smith had won the Yellow Jacket Invitational, the first cross-country victory of her career. She must have liked the idea, because was first across the finish line again in the Region 1-AA race, coming in nearly a minute ahead of the next runner at 22:11. Is winning becoming a habit for Smith?


"I hope so!" she laughed.


Emily Boyd of Berrien placed second in 23:08. Boyd was joined in the top ten by two other Berrien Rebels, Janna Jernigan (4th, 23:25) and Haley Jernigan (10th, 25:17). But Thomasville had three other runners in the top ten--juniors Jacara Hayes (5th, 24:16) and Rebecca Jane White (7th, 24:40) plus frosh Miyah Beard (9th, 25:09). And while the Rebels were still waiting for their fourth scorer, junior Demetria Miley crossed the finish line for the Bulldogs, 11th in 25:30. That gave the Thomasville girls 37 points and a seventh straight Region 1 title for the Bulldogs. Berrien was second with 43 points, Pelham third with 84, and Fitzgerald fourth with 104. Those were the four teams that qualified for the GHSA State Championship on 8 November 2014 in Carrollton, Georgia.


Girls' Team Standings, 2014 GHSA Region 1-AA Cross Country

1. Thomasville, 33 points
2. Berrien, 43
3. Pelham, 84
4. Fitzgerald, 104
5. Early County, 125
6. Seminole County, 128

Top Ten Girls, 2014 GHSA Region 1-AA Cross Country

1. 22:10.45 ~ Rebekah Smith (Thomasville) 11
2. 23:07.91 ~ Emily Boyd (Berrien)
3. 23:28.52 ~ Tanja Brenne (Fitzgerald) 12
4. 23:34.73 ~ Janna Jernigan (Berrien)
5. 24:15.21 ~ Jacara Hayes (Thomasville) 11
6. 24:37.83 ~ Monica Webb (Pelham) 10
7. 24:39.89 ~ Rebecca Jane White (Thomasville) 11
8. 25:04.15 ~ Yulisa Serrano (Fitzgerald) 10
9. 25:08.51 ~ Miyah Beard (Thomasville) 9
10. 25:16.11 ~ Haley Jernigan (Berrien)

Thomasville senior Travet "TJ" Witherspoon charged out into the lead right from the start of the GHSA Region 1 boys' race. For the first mile, Berrien sophomore Haven Gilbert ran as if he were stuck to Witherspoon, but the Bulldog senior broke away during the second mile, arriving at the two-mile mark with a ten-second lead. Meanwhile, another Thomasville senior, Andrew Jackson, had moved into second place. In each of four earlier races this season, Jackson had finished behind Witherspoon. During the third mile of this race, though, Jackson made Witherspoon's lead disappear. With 400 meters to go Jackson was the one with the ten-second lead. He continued to widen that lead on his way to an 18:29 win and the GHSA Region 1-AA title. Witherspoon held off Bryce Tucker of Berrien 18:47 to 18:49, taking second. Thomasville senior Neil White was fourth in 18:59. The Bulldogs' next two runners were junior Alex Perralta (9th, 20:16) and senior Jacob Bruhn (15th, 21:06), giving Thomasville a winning total of 31 points and a trip to the State Meet in Carrollton. Also qualifying for State were Berrien, second with 42 points; Seminole County, third with 82; and Fitzgerald, fourth with 107.


Boys' Team Standings, 2014 GHSA Region 1-AA Cross Country

1. Thomasville, 31 points
2. Berrien, 42
3. Seminole County, 82
4. Fitzgerald, 107
5. Pelham, 115
6. Early County, 139

Top Ten Boys, 2014 GHSA Region 1-AA Cross Country

1. 18:28.53 ~ Andrew Jackson (Thomasville) 12
2. 18:46.58 ~ Travet Witherspoon (Thomasville) 12
3. 18:48.14 ~ Bryce Tucker (Berrien)
4. 18:58.21 ~ Neil White (Thomasville) 12
5. 19:03.16 ~ Brett Bailey (Pelham) 12
6. 19:30.93 ~ Haven Gilbert (Berrien)
7. 19:39.87 ~ Dustin Reynolds (Seminole County) 10
8. 20:02.30 ~ Caleb Finn (Berrien)
9. 20:15.62 ~ Alex Peralta (Thomasville) 11
10. 20:20.51 ~ Ronaldo Nunez (Fitzgerald) 11

GHSA Region 1-AA Cross-Country Champions 2010 - 2014
Girls
Date	Team Champ	Individual Champ
30 Oct 2008	Thomasville, 28	22:23, Jennifer Cumbus (Berrien)
29 Oct 2009	Thomasville, 22	23:26, Jennifer Cumbus (Berrien)
28 Oct 2010	Thomasville, 28	23:03, Rosalie White (Thomasville) 10
26 Oct 2011	Thomasville, 17	23:19, Mareike Haaren (Thomasville) 10
31 Oct 2012	Thomasville, 15	21:48, Rachel Smith (Thomasville) 11
29 Oct 2013	Thomasville, 23	21:05, Rachel Smith (Thomasville) 12
29 Oct 2014	Thomasville, 33	22:11, Rebekah Smith (Thomasville) 11
Boys
Date	Team Champ	Individual Champ
30 Oct 2008	Thomasville, 36	17:13, David Daniel (Thomasville)
29 Oct 2009	Fitzgerald, 31	17:37, David Daniel (Thomasville)
28 Oct 2010	Thomasville, 56	18:29, Grif Rutherford (Thomasville) 9
26 Oct 2011	Thomasville, 40	17:40, Grif Rutherford (Thomasville) 10
31 Oct 2012	Thomasville, 45	18:20, Guthrie Edwards (Pelham) 11
29 Oct 2013	Thomasville, 25	17:12, Guthrie Edwards (Pelham) 12
29 Oct 2014	Thomasville, 31	18:29, Andrew Jackson (Thomasville) 12
Note: The 2010-2012 and 2014 meets were at Pebble Hill Plantation. The 2006-2009 and 2013 meets were at Kolomoki Mounds State Park.

Links

• Complete results of the 2014 GHSA Region 1-AA Cross-Country Meeting, courtesy of Miles and Minutes, LLC
  
  • Girls' 5K: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wajH-TlwEmDd31DlNtQo6nCTY01duDxAQAX-wdK_sio/pub
  • Boys' 5K: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A26UQVdwYry-rALz3x7WE233IDxdMwJhC72ZKYkWdfU/pub
  
  
• More photos of the 2014 GHSA Region 1-AA Cross-Country Championship
  
  • Girls' 5K:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10105254358819653.1073742035.5215641&l=43eb4ad07f
  • Boys' 5K: [ Coming Soon! Please Check Back! ]
  
  
• 2013 story, "Ancient mounds and young runners at Kolomoki"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/10/ghsaa-region-1-2a-2013.html
  
  
• 2011 story, "Thomasville runners continue Region 1-AA dominance"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/10/ghsa-region-1-aa-2011.html
  
  
• 2010 story, "White and Rutherford lead a Thomasville sweep of Region 1-2A"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/10/ghsa-region-1-2a-2010.html
  
  
• Another race at Kolomoki Mounds, "Pate and Winkler conquer Kolomoki"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/08/kolomoki-moon-2013.html
  
• Kolomoki Mounds State Park
  http://gastateparks.org/KolomokiMounds
  
  
• Look for upcoming races around ancient monuments on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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