The girls started running.
"That was a tree falling!" one shrieked.
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| Maya Tang |
There were no downed trees, but the wind was strong enough that the rain stung. The last time I was out in a storm that intense, it had been named by the National Hurricane Center. The boys' 3K was canceled. But the girls finished their race, and Maya Tang finished first. The Deerlake eighth-grader ran 12:52 crossing the line before the arrival of the storm. The Swift Creek Middle School girls had the top team in the race, scoring a winning 36 points.
The sky was starting to look threatening when the girls' race started around 6:00 PM. Paige Churchill, a Swift Creek eighth-grader, had won her last seven Leon County Schools cross-country races, a winning streak going back to the 2016 season. Churchill also had a perfect three-for-three record in Leon County Schools races at Apalachee Regional Park.
 |
| Girls' 3K |
But it was Maya Tang who was leading the race after the first half kilometer, running six seconds ahead of Churchill. Tang was still ahead with a kilometer to go, her lead increased to fifteen seconds. Unchallenged up to that point, Tang continued home unchallenged, placing first in 12:52. Churchill took second in 13:13, and Swift Creek eighth-grader Stella Lewis was third in 13:22.
 |
| Paige Churchill |
The Swift Creek girls had two more top-ten performers--seventh-grader Ava Jones was sixth in 13:43, and seventh-grader Elizabeth Kessler was tenth in 14:33. Seventh-grader Anna Caulkins was Swift Creek's fifth runner, finishing fifteenth in 14:56 and completing the Wolves' team total of 36 points, good for first place in the field of seven teams. Tang's Deerlake squad was second with 52 points. Montford was third with 57 points, led by seventh-grader Skye Williams, who placed seventh in 13:59.
2018 ARPXC Invitational Team Standings, Girls
- Swift Creek, 36
- Deerlake, 52
- Montford, 57
- Raa, 125
- Fairview, 140
- Cobb, 150
- Fort Braden, 180
- Griffin, NTS
Top Ten Girls, 2018 ARPXC Invitational
- 12:51.04, Maya Tang (Deerlake) 8
- 13:12.70, Paige Churchill (Swift Creek) 8
- 13:21.07, Stella Lewis (Swift Creek) 8
- 13:29.70, Madison Sims (Fort Braden) 6
- 13:37.14, Leah Kiros (Deerlake) 7
- 13:42.42, Ava Jones (Swift Creek) 7
- 13:58.90, Skye Williams (Montford) 7
- 14:08.28, Livia Rose Clark (Montford) 8
- 14:21.00, MacKenzie Hulquist (Montford) 7
- 14:32.56, Elizabeth Kessler (Swift Creek) 7
Links
- Complete results of the 2018 ARPXC Invitational
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSyrfEWh9AAhzHmp9iQarDp5_OhsB4viUEn_UnADLeqAgy2nVWu6V9JjF1OsrxALSMyls56tSACCXSt/pubhtml
- More photos of the 2018 ARPXC Invitational
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10112525968909743&type=1&l=d1ce86bd79
- The 2018 LCS middle school cross-country season
- ARPXC Invitational https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/08/swift-creek-2018.html
- Fort Braden Run [ Coming on 6 September 2018 ]
- Everhart Invitational [ Coming on 13 September 2018 ]
- Mustang Invitational [ Coming on 20 September 2018 ]
- Falcon Invitational [ Coming on 27 September 2018 ]
- LCS Championship [ Coming on 4 October 2018 ]
- ARPXC Invitational https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/08/swift-creek-2018.html
- Leon County Schools' 2018 middle school cross country schedule
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/07/lcs-xc-2018.html
- Find your next cross country race on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
8th annual Get-A-Mammy 5K. 8:00 AM ET. Bethany Baptist Church, 5064 Bethany Road, Hahira, Georgia 31632. 2017 
11th annual Red Cross Robin Lotane Memorial Hurricane Run 5K and one-mile fun run. 8:00 AM ET one mile / 8:30 AM ET 5K. State Office Satellite Complex at SouthWood, 4079 Esplanade Way, Tallahassee, Florida. 2015 
Hahira Honeybee Festival 5K. 8:00 AM ET. Hahira Community Center, 216 Randall Street, Hahira, Georgia 31632. 2017 
39th annual Boston Mini-Marathon. 8:00 AM ET. Commercial Bank, 124 West Jefferson Street, Boston, Georgia 31626. 2016 
8th annual VetFest Veterans Day 5K. 8:00 AM ET. South Gadsden Street and East Park Avenue, Tallahassee, Florida. 2017 
Swine Time 5K. 8:30 AM ET. Swine Time Fairgrounds, New Street, Climax Georgia. 2016 
10th annual Trent Trot 5K and one-mile fun run. 8:00 AM ET 5K / 9:00 AM ET one mile. 
7th Tulip Trot 5K and one-mile fun run. 8:30 AM ET one mile / 9:00 AM ET 5K. Cascades Park, 1001 South Gadsden Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32301. 2018 
26th annual Run For The Cookies 5K and one-mile fun run. 8:30 AM ET one mile / 9:00 AM ET 5K. Tallahassee Community College Lifetime Sports Center, 444 Appleyard Drive, Tallahassee, Florida 32304. 2018 
9th annual Chattahoochee Smoochee 5K and one-mile fun run. 10:00 AM ET. Chattahoochee Landing, 269 River Landing Road, Chattahoochee, Florida. 2011 
31st annual Shamrock Scurry 5K and one-mile fun run. 8:00 AM ET one mile / 8:30AM ET 5K.
10th annual Race The Tortoise 5K. 8:00 AM ET. 
10th annual Don't Run With Scissors 5K and one-mile fun run. 8:00 AM ET 5K / 9:00 AM ET one mile. Sallas Mahone Elementary School, 3686 Lake Laurie Drive, Valdosta, Georgia 31605. 2017 
8th annual BFD Catfish Crawl 5K and one-mile fun run. 8:00 AM CT. M and B Train Park, North Main Street and Railroad Avenue, Blountstown, Florida 32424. 2017 
Monticello Kiwanis' 41st annual Melon Run 5K. 8:15 AM ET. First United Methodist Church Family Ministry Center, 325 West Walnut Street, Monticello, Florida 32344. 2018 
37th annual Firecracker 5K and one-mile Sparkler Run. 7:30 AM ET one mile / 8:00 AM ET 5K.