Anna James just keeps winning.During the 2020 high school cross-country season, the Thomas County Central senior notched wins in the girls' race at the Yellow Jacket Invitational on August 29, the Lee County Invitational on September 12, the Tift Invitational on September 26, and the Westover Invitational on October 3. On 10 October 2020, she added another victory in Bainbridge, Georgia at the Bearcat Invitational, where she ran 20:23.
But aside from James, the story of the Bearcat Invitational was largely one of two schools, Wakulla High and Lowndes High. James may have placed first in the girls' 5K, but the team competition was between Wakulla and Lowndes, with Wakulla prevailing 29 to 42. Lowndes had the edge in the boys' 5K, taking first with 21 points to Wakulla's 94, while Lowndes senior Alec Munger finished first in 17:13.
The girls raced first, with a scheduled starting time of 8:00 AM. No one was close to Anna James as she won the race by nearly 400 meters, covering the course around Bainbridge High School in 20:23. The next three places went to three Wakulla juniors, with Elizabeth Blitch second in 22:01, Marina Whitsell third in 22:05, and Clara Alford fourth in 22:14.
The Wakulla girls had a fourth athlete in the top ten; senior Alejandra Vivaldo Vasquez placed seventh in 22:27. Keri Levingston completed Wakulla's score, finishing fourteenth in 23:50 and giving the War Eagles a winning 29 points. The Lowndes girls were second with 42 points, led by senior Kiley Matheson's 22:15, good for fifth place. Scoring 90 points, Tift County was third in the six-team field, led by senior Katie McMillan (11th, 23:22).
2020 Bearcat Invitational Team Standings, High School Girls
- Wakulla, 29
- Lowndes, 42
- Tift County, 90
- Thomas County Central, 112
- Westover, 113
- Bainbridge, 136
Top Ten High School Girls, 2020 Bearcat Invitational
- 20:22.10, Anna James (Thomas County Central) 12
- 22:00.90, Elizabeth Blitch (Wakulla) 11
- 22:04.60, Marina Whitsell (Wakulla) 11
- 22:13.30, Clara Alford (Wakulla) 11
- 22:14.50, Kiley Matheson (Lowndes) 12
- 22:19.80, Victoria Garcia (Lowndes) 10
- 22:28.60, Alejandra Vivaldo Vasquez (Wakulla) 12
- 22:49.00, Laura Mason (Lowndes) 11
- 23:15.40, Macy Batchelor (Seminole County) 12
- 23:16.90, Anna Plowden (Westover) 11
Alec Munger didn't win the boys' 5K with as wide a margin as Anna James enjoyed in the girls' race, but he still finished comfortably ahead of the runner-up, Wakulla senior Simon Cole, 17:13 to 17:26. After Cole, it was a lot of Lowndes, as the Vikings put all four of their remaining scorers in the top ten--sophmore Aaron Munger was third in 17:43, junior Matthew Herndon was fourth in 18:00, senior Andrew Carvana was fifth in 18:24, and senior Andrew Francis took eighth in 18:38. With those five athletes, Lowndes had 21 points and first place--improving on their second-place showing in 2018, their previous appearance in the Bearcat Invitational.
Cole and Wakulla were second in the ten-team field with 94 points. Westover was a close third with 101 points, led by the tenth-place finish of senior Kentavious Sessions (18:48).
2020 Bearcat Invitational Team Standings, High School Boys
- Lowndes, 21
- Wakulla, 94
- Westover, 101
- Bainbridge, 113
- Cairo, 149
- Thomas County Central, 156
- Tift County, 167
- Grace Christian, 183
- Thomasville, 252
- Seminole County, 257
Top Ten High School Boys, 2020 Bearcat Invitational
- 17:12.10, Alec Munger (Lowndes) 12
- 17:25.20, Simon Cole (Wakulla) 12
- 17:42.20, Aaron Munger (Lowndes) 10
- 17:59.60, Matthew Herndon (Lowndes) 11
- 18:24.00, Andrew Carvana (Lowndes) 12
- 18:31.30, Jared Davis (Bainbridge) 11
- 18:35.70, Wyatt Carpenter (Grace Christian) 12
- 18:38.00, Andrew Francis (Lowndes) 12
- 18:39.60, Elias Lopez-Gomez (Cairo) 12
- 18:47.70, Kentavious Sessions (Westover) 12
The high school races were followed by a middle school two mile. The first girl in that race was eighth-grader Cadence Curnalia of Thomas County Middle School, going 13:24 in her first appearance at the Bearcat Invite. Eighth-grader Isabella Laughton, competing unattached, placed second in 14:01. Thomas County sixth-grader Savannah Dodd went 15:00 for third.
Curnalia and Dodd were joined in the top ten by fellow Yellow Jacket Gabby Lindquist; eighth-grader Lindquist was tenth in 18:30. Two sixth-graders rounded out Thomas County's five scorers, with Julie Vonier thirteenth in 18:55 and Josie Smith sixteenth in 19:41. Once Smith crossed the finish line, the Yellow Jacket girls had 21 points and first place. Led by eighth-grader Geisha Smith (4th, 15:18), Seminole County took second with 36 points.
2020 Bearcat Invitational Team Standings, Middle School Girls
- Thomas County, 21
- Seminole County, 36
Top Ten Middle School Girls, 2020 Bearcat Invitational
- 13:23.60, Cadence Curnalia (Thomas County) 8
- 14:00.50, Isabella Laughton (Unattached) 8
- 14:59.30, Savannah Dodd (Thomas County) 6
- 15:17.70, Geisha Smith (Seminole County) 8
- 15:37.60, Katya Jackson (Valdosta) 8
- 15:56.30, Katelyn Bailey (Whigham) 8
- 17:35.80, Madison Gainous (Whigham) 7
- 17:55.10, Kyli Alexander (MacIntyre Park) 7
- 18:19.30, Jenna Collins (MacIntyre Park) 8
- 18:29.90, Gabby Lindquist (Thomas County) 8
More than 100 meters ahead of the next runner, TaQuan Townsend cruised to a 13:03 victory in the middle school boys' two mile. Dawson McMillan of Tift took second in 13:03, and seventh-grader Henry Lewis was third in 13:48.
The team competition was between the two Thomasville schools--Thomas County and MacIntyre Park. County's Yellow Jackets had three runners in the top ten--sixth-grader Brody Jennings was fourth in 14:11, sixth-grader Mason Tillman was fifth in 14:17, and eighth-grader Tim Watson was eighth in 14:52. Seventh-graders Memphis McKenzie (12th, 15:06) and Conner Marsh (18th, 15:59) filled the two remaining spots on the Thomas County's card of five scorers, giving the Jackets 20 points and first place. MacIntyre Park seventh-grader placed tenth in 15:02, leading his Bulldogs to second place with 36 points.
2020 Bearcat Invitational Team Standings, Middle School Boys
- Thomas County, 20
- MacIntyre Park, 36
Top Ten Middle School Boys, 2020 Bearcat Invitational
- 12:36.20, Ta'Quan Townsend (Unattached) 8
- 13:02.60, Dawson McMillan (Tift) 8
- 13:47.30, Henry Lewis (Unattached) 7
- 14:11.00, Brody Jennings (Thomas County) 6
- 14:16.30, Mason Tillman (Thomas County) 6
- 14:33.60, Corbin Thompson (Bainbridge) 7
- 14:44.30, Aidan Angie (Bainbridge) 8
- 14:51.40, Tim Watson (Thomas County) 8
- 15:01.50, Christian Knight (Whigham) 8
- 15:01.60, Nicholas May (MacIntyre Park) 7
Miles and Minutes, LLC, of Tallahassee, Florida timed the 2020 Bearcat Invitational.
| Bainbridge High School Bearcat Cross-Country Invitational Champions 2000 - 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| High School Girls 5K | ||
| Date | Team Champ | Individual Champ |
| 27 September 2003 | Tift County, 39 | 22:28, Demonessa Pyle (Berrien County) |
| 24 September 2005 | Tift County, 32 | |
| 23 September 2006 | ||
| 22 September 2007 | ||
| 20 September 2008 | Bainbridge, 39 | 21:06, April Thomas (Bainbridge) 10 |
| 19 September 2009 | Westover, 45 | 19:31, April Thomas (Bainbridge) 11 |
| 18 September 2010 | Lee County | |
| 17 September 2011 | Tift County, 36 | 21:50, Ericka Taylor (Westover) 11 |
| 22 September 2012 | Thomasville, 64 | 21:05, Ericka Taylor (Westover) 12 |
| 14 September 2013 | Thomas County Central, 55 | 19:56, Paige Braswell (Bainbridge) 12 |
| 20 September 2014 | Maclay, 35 | 19:11, Elizabeth Funderburk (Colquitt County) 9 |
| 26 September 2015 | Lincoln, 60 | 21:10, Juliana Krueger (Lincoln) 12 |
| 17 September 2016 | Maclay, 31 | 18:06, Alyson Churchill (Lincoln) 9 |
| 16 September 2017 | Lincoln, 53 | 20:41, Emily Golden (Tift County) 10 |
| 15 September 2018 | Bishop Snyder, 50 | 19:42, Gianna Forte (Bishop Snyder) 12 |
| 21 September 2019 | Community Christian, 48 | 20:40, Rebecca Chandler (Berrien County) 12 |
| 10 September 2020 | Wakulla, 29 | 20:23, Anna James (Thomas County Central) 12 |
| High School Boys 5K | ||
| Date | Team Champ | Individual Champ |
| 27 September 2003 | Westover, 41 | 17:47, David Marley (Westover) |
| 24 September 2005 | Bainbridge, 54 | |
| 23 September 2006 | ||
| 22 September 2007 | ||
| 20 September 2008 | Tift County, 37 | 17:13, David Daniel (Thomasville) 11 |
| 19 September 2009 | Tift County, 49 | 16:04, Hunter Honeycutt (Tift County) 10 |
| 18 September 2010 | Westover | |
| 17 September 2011 | Tift County, 55 | 16:48, Hunter Honeycutt (Tift County) 12 |
| 22 September 2012 | Bainbridge, 77 | 16:40, Josh Mason (Westover) 12 |
| 14 September 2013 | Bainbridge, 65 | 16:15, Chase Harris (Bainbridge) 11 |
| 20 September 2014 | Maclay, 51 | 16:59, Bryce Swindell (Lassiter) 12 |
| 26 September 2015 | Lowndes, 43 | 16:52, Kaleb Wolfenden (Lowndes) 11 |
| 17 September 2016 | Maclay, 32 | 16:41, Clayburn Milford (Maclay) 10 |
| 16 September 2017 | Lincoln, 39 | 17:12, Clayton Carlson (Lincoln) 12 |
| 15 September 2018 | Lee County, 54 | 17:41, Christopher Porter (Rickards) 12 |
| 21 September 2019 | Lee County, 60 | 16:54, David Andrew Keen (North Florida Christian) 12 |
| 10 September 2020 | Lowndes, 21 | 17:13, Alec Munger (Lowndes) 12 |
| Additions and corrections to this table will be accepted gratefully. ~HW | ||
Links
- Complete results of the 2020 Bainbridge High Bearcat Cross-Country Invitational
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQwGmCGyIDxtaS12x2kAlsOWFXAjKon3luv9NVHwN0g0m0-Gc_ag620r24bV29t4nDa72p4G_LZF0AK/pubhtml
- 2017 story, “A whole lot of Lincoln Trojan at the Bainbridge Bearcat Invitational”
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/09/bearcat-xc-2017.html
- 2016 story, “Lincoln frosh Alyson Churchill stuns Southwest Georgia with an 18:06”
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/09/bearcat-xc-2016.html
- 2015 story, “Krueger leads Lincoln and Wolfenden leads Lowndes to victories in Bainbridge”
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/09/bearcat-xc-2015.html
- Trouble Afoot! coverage of running in Bainbridge, Georgia
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/Bainbridge
- Stop playing on the computer and run a race! You can find one here:
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
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