Cadence Curnalia first raced at Thomas County Central's annual Yellow Jacket Invitational Cross-Country Meet in 2019. That year she won the middle school girls' race. She was back at the Thomasville, Georgia meet in 2020. Once again, Curnalia won the middle school girls' race. The 28th annual Yellow Jacket Invitational was at Thomas County Middle School on Thursday afternoon, 2 September 2021. Curnalia was there, but this time she was a high school frosh at Thomas County Central. No longer eligible to run in the middle school girls' event, Curnalia raced the high school girls' 5K. She won by over a hundred meters, running 23:40. Westover was the top team in the race, putting up a winning 44 points. Valdosta High senior
Parker Jackson won the high school boys' 5K in 17:45, leading his squad to first place in the team standings with 33 points.
Emily Asola, a Valdosta High senior, followed Curnalia across the finish line in the girls' 5K, second in 24:05. Westover senior Anna Plowden placed third in 24:11.
In addition to Plowden, sophomore Jada Landers also broke into the top ten for Westover, placing tenth in 26:55. Westover also had scoring performances by sophomore Destiny Love (11th, 27:31), senior Deanna Cunningham (22nd, 30:32), and senior Jayda Clark (31st, 32:25). Those five athletes gave the Albany, Georgia school 44 points and first place in the team standings.
Led by Curnalia's win, Thomas County Central placed second as a team with 55 points. Cook edged Brookwood for third, 64 to 69. Cook's top runner was junior
Kylie Downs (5th, 24:53); Brookwood's first finisher was frosh Abby Stalvey (13th, 27:36).
2021 Yellow Jacket XC Invitational Team Standings, High School Girls-
Westover, 44
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Thomas County Central, 55
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Cook, 64
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Brookwood, 69
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Seminole County, 103
Top Ten High School Girls, 28th annual Yellow Jacket XC Invitational-
23:39.10, Cadence Curnalia (Thomas County Central) 9
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24:04.70, Emily Asola (Valdosta) 12
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24:10.50, Anna Plowden (Westover) 12
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24:37.50, Ella Burnett (Valwood) 10
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24:52.30, Kylie Downs (Cook) 11
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25:25.50, Rylan Bland (Bainbridge) 11
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26:16.70, Gracie Morrical (Baconton Charter) 8
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26:28.40, Kendall Haden (Valdosta) 12
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26:42.60, Addie Gregory (Cook) 9
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26:55.00, Jada Landers (Westover) 10
Parker Jackson's 17:45 put him across the finish line more than half a minute ahead of any other runner in the high school boys' 5K, time enough for the Valdosta senior to slow to a halt, leisurely turn around, and watch the rest of the field finish. The next runner Jackson would have seen would have been Bainbridge senior Landon Watts, the runner-up in 18:17. Crisp County frosh Sawyer McGinnis took third in 19:21.
Jackson turned out to be the vanguard of a Valdosta assault on the top ten. Valdosta's next finisher was senior William Gerber, fifth in 19:36. Following Gerber, the next three Valdosta athletes were junior Burnis Williams (8th, 21:05), senior Hayden Coggins (9th, 21:33), and frosh Patrick Wallace (10th, 21:47). With all five scorers in the top ten, Valdosta racked up 33 points, giving the boys in the gold singlets first place among the nine teams in the Invitational.
Behind the top-ten finish of senior Johnny Artiaga (6th, 20:24), Cook took second with 81 points. That was just a whisker better than the 83 points put up by McGinnis and third-place Crisp County. Host team Thomas County Central was fourth with 91 points, led by junior Bryce Bodiford (4th, 19:27).
2021 Yellow Jacket XC Invitational Team Standings, High School Boys-
Valdosta, 33
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Cook, 81
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Crisp County, 83
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Thomas County Central, 91
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Bainbridge, 95
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Brookwood, 170
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Pelham, 184
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Thomasville, 207
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Grace Christian, 212
Top Ten High School Boys, 28th annual Yellow Jacket XC Invitational-
17:44.60, Parker Jackson (Valdosta) 12
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18:16.30, Landon Watts (Bainbridge) 12
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19:20.40, Sawyer McGinnis (Crisp County) 9
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19:26.50, Bryce Bodiford (Thomas County Central) 11
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19:35.80, William Gerber (Valdosta) 12
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19:49.30, Kent Grayson (Brookwood) 9
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20:23.10, Johnny Artiaga (Cook) 12
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21:04.30, Burnis Williams (Valdosta) 11
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21:32.70, Hayden Coggins (Valdosta) 12
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21:46.10, Patrick Wallace (Valdosta) 9
Sandra Esquivel, a ninth-grader at Baconton Charter School, was the first girl in the middle school two mile, running 16:46. Second went to MacIntyre Park sixth-grader Sadie Kate Scarbrough in 19:04. In a homestretch showdown between two eighth-graders, Brookwood's Addison Gamble edged
Ava Garrett of Valwood for third, 19:20 to 19:22.
In addition to Scarborough, MacIntyre Park had two other runners in the top ten--sixth-grader Lyla Dunlap (9th, 20:49) and eighth-grader Kyli Alexander (10th, 21:00). MacIntyre Park's remaining two scorers were seventh-graders Caroline Sanders (14th, 21:13) and Lily Brewster (16th, 21:28), giving the Bulldogs 25 points and the team title.
Thomas County, led by eighth-grader Savannah Dodd (7th, 20:08), was second with 40 points. Cook was third with 71 points; their first runner was sixth-grader Perry Kate Freeman, thirteenth in 21:06.
2021 Yellow Jacket XC Invitational Team Standings, Middle School Girls-
MacIntyre Park, 25
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Thomas County, 40
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Cook, 71
Top Ten Middle School Girls, 28th annual Yellow Jacket XC Invitational-
16:45.60, Sandra Esquivel (Baconton Charter) 9
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19:03.20, Sadie Kate Scarbrough (MacIntyre) 6
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19:20.00, Addison Gamble (Brookwood) 8
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19:21.80, Ava Garrett (Valwood) 8
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19:34.70, Julia Soshnik (Valwood) 7
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20:05.70, Teagan Barefoot (Bainbridge) 8
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20:08.00, Savannah Dodd (Thomas County Central) 8
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20:28.20, Julianne Wynn (Thomas County Central) 6
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20:48.20, Lyla Dunlap (MacIntyre) 6
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20:59.90, Kyli Alexander (MacIntyre) 8
In the 2020 Yellow Jack Invitational middle school boys' race,
Walker Elrod had finished second to Cook's
Caden McDaniel. In 2021 Elrod was second to no one. The Grace Christian Academy eighth-grader covered the two-mile course in a winning 13:02, finishing more than 100 meters ahead of the next runner. Valwood eighth-grader Ethan Burnett was second in 13:30 and Crisp County seventh-grader Brendan Young placed third in 13:51.
MacIntyre Park put together a winning score without any runners in the top ten. The Bulldogs scorers were seventh-grader J. C. Wise (12th, 15:30), seventh-grader Joe Lehman (19th, 16:15), eighth-grader Nick May (23rd, 16:43), sixth-grader Finn Henderson (25th, 16:54), and sixth-grader Liam Wise (26th, 16:57). Those five gave MacIntyre Park 96 points and the win.
Cross-town rival Thomas County was a close second with 99 points; the top Yellow Jacket runner was seventh-grader Johnny Bradshaw, thirteenth in 15:33. Cook was third in the field of ten teams, scoring 109 points behind the team-leading performance of eighth-grader Grayson Kennedy, sixth in 14:45.
2021 Yellow Jacket XC Invitational Team Standings, Middle School Boys-
MacIntyre Park, 96
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Thomas County, 99
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Cook, 109
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Baconton Charter, 118
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Brookwood, 123
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Seminole County, 130
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Bainbridge, 167
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Grace Christian, 170
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Whigham, 193
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Crisp County, 226
Top Ten Middle School Boys, 28th annual Yellow Jacket XC Invitational-
13:01.30, Walker Elrod (Grace Christian) 8
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13:29.20, Ethan Burnett (Valwood) 8
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13:50.90, Brendon Young (Crisp County) 7
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14:16.50, Wesley Warren (Brookwood) 7
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14:23.10, Anthony Escalante (Baconton Charter) 8
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14:44.70, Grayson Kennedy (Cook) 8
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14:52.80, Zach King (Seminole County) 8
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15:08.60, Corbin Thompson (Bainbridge) 8
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15:10.80, Gambler Dollar (Bainbridge) 8
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15:21.50, Corbin Suggs (Baconton Charter) 6
| Yellow Jacket Cross Country Invitational winners, 2008 - 2021 |
|---|
| High School Boys |
|---|
| Date | Team Champ | Individual Champ |
|---|
| | |
| 18 October 2008 | Tift County, 32 points | 16:59, Hunter Honeycutt (Tift County) |
| 17 October 2009 | | |
| 16 October 2010 | | |
| 15 October 2011 | | |
| 20 October 2012 | | |
| 19 October 2013 | Maclay, 41 | 16:13, Chase Harris (Bainbridge) 11 |
| 25 October 2014 | Thomas County Central, 74 | 16:25, Wil Luca (Leon) 12 |
| 17 October 2015 | Leon, 36 | 15:47, Poncherella Leonard (Bainbridge) 11 |
| 15 October 2016 | Veterans, 54 | 17:13, Colby Jones (Lee County) 11 |
| 14 October 2017 | Veterans, 32 | 17:04, Brishen House (Lowndes) 12 |
| 12 October 2019 | Colquitt County, 68 | 17:21, Stokes Moore (Bainbridge) 12 |
| 29 August 2020 | Davis, 36 | 18:16, Briley Reyes (Davis) 11 |
| 2 September 2021 | Valdosta, 33 | 17:45, Parker Jackson (Valdosta) 12 |
| High School Girls |
|---|
| Date | Team Champ | Individual Champ |
|---|
| | |
| 18 October 2008 | Valdosta, 30 points | 21:12, JaCourtney Alexander (Cairo) |
| 17 October 2009 | | |
| 16 October 2010 | | |
| 15 October 2011 | | |
| 20 October 2012 | | |
| 19 October 2013 | Maclay, 30 | 19:44, Paige Braswell (Bainbridge) 12 |
| 25 October 2014 | Berrien County, 47 | 20:58, Rebekah Smith (Thomasville) 11 |
| 17 October 2015 | Leon, 44 | 20:07, Elizabeth Funderburk (Colquitt County) 10 |
| 15 October 2016 | Lee County, 83 | 17:50, Elizabeth Funderburk (Colquitt County) 11 |
| 14 October 2017 | Valwood, 80 | 17:45, Elizabeth Funderburk (Colquitt County) 12 |
| 12 October 2019 | Aucilla Christian, 32 | 21:28, Anna James (Thomas County Central) 11 |
| 29 August 2020 | Colquitt County, 41 | 20:06, Anna James (Thomas County Central) 12 |
| 2 September 2021 | Westover, 44 | 23:40, Cadence Curnalia (Thomas County Central) 9 |
| Do you have results from the missing years? Please let me know! |
Links
#2857
It was stormy along the Georgia-Florida boundary on 2 December 2023, stormy enough to have an effect on the athletics events scheduled for that day. Some went ahead, such as the AAU Cross-Country National Championship Meet in Tallahassee, Florida. Some were canceled--better luck next year. Some were rescheduled, such as Valdosta, Georgia's Christmas Parade 5K. That race went ahead on a new date, Saturday, 16 December 2023, when Parker Jackson of Valdosta won by over 200 meters, running 17:01. Another Valdosta athlete, Kelly Lunceford, was the first woman in the 5K, placing nineteenth overall in 24:42.
