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Sunday, September 6, 2020
The Dalton State College cross country team opened the 2020-2021 season with a win, defending their Middle Georgia Invitational title in Macon on Saturday.
– photo by Contributed
MACON, Ga. – The Lady Roadrunners took off from the starting line like their running shorts were on fire and never looked back to defend their title in the Middle Georgia Invitational in Macon on Saturday. In a meet that included two conference foes (host Middle Georgia and Brewton-Parker), they took five of the top eight places to form a huge gap between them and the second-place team in the meet.
RECAP
The team, and indeed the entire field, was led by outstanding freshman Riley Jo Ford from Marlette High School and the small town of Caro, Michigan.
Running in her first ever collegiate meet, she took the lead in the first 10 meters and no one was ever close. For Riley, it was her first ever team victory, making the individual win part of a great package to go along with her first collegiate medal.
Junior Alex Gass followed her breakout sophomore season with another solid effort and the best time she has ever run on the terribly difficult course. She came home in fourth place overall.
Behind Alex in fifth place was sophomore Kate Roberts, who had one of her best efforts finishing third on the team. She had never finished higher than sixth on the team in prior contests.
Just behind Kate was senior Kay Vradenburgh. After finishing 4th in this race for the last two years in a row, Kay settled for a 6th place finish overall this year, making her the only Roadrunner on the team to finish all three years in the top ten.
Rounding out the scoring and the awards ceremony for the Roadrunners was freshman Kayla Mattox. She finished 8th overall and it left the ladies with two freshmen in the scoring for the winning team. It appears that the conference champions from a year ago could possibly be stronger than they were last year.
Finishing just outside the scoring and the awards in 11th place was sophomore Rebecca Poe. Becca ran a valiant race but was just edged out for the fifth spot on the team.
The competing ladies stepped up and ran a great race despite the fact that last year’s Freshman of the Year, Kathryn Vradenburgh, and University of North Georgia transfer Haley Tillery were held out of the meet for minor injuries. Also, junior Rachel Ward, a consistent top-5 scorer for the last two years, started the race, but was unable to finish.
QUOTES FROM COACH
Coach Thompson’s comments:
I was really proud of the way we competed today. In a race that was clearly ours from the gun, the ladies did not let up at all throughout the race. Some of them have struggled mentally just recently, but our goal today was for everyone to compete hard. Mission accomplished. We talked last night about how “Okay” is not good enough. We want to the best we can be every time we toe the line. They did that today, and today’s course was brutal. It was hot, they had to run over constantly rolling hills and through sand on a course that is a little longer than the standard 5K. I couldn’t be more proud of the grit I saw out there today.
How about Riley! She looked strong from start to finish. She’s just getting started too. We’ll see some strong competition soon and it will be interesting to see how she does against great competition. She’s really close to where Kathryn was last year and she was Freshman of the Year. That’s not bad company. Maybe the best thing about Riley is the attitude she brings with her. She helps to make everyone around her better.
Alex had another solid day, running fairly close to Riley for a while. She is not at her strongest right now, but that didn’t stop her from running hard and turning in an outstanding performance. There is no “give up” in Alex. She ALWAYS runs hard, even when it’s not easy to do.
Kate had a great day when the team needed her to have one. She was over a minute faster than she was last year on the same course, and on a day that the course was slower due to conditions. She has come a long way in the last year. She works hard all the time, and that effort is paying off. I love seeing the bright smile on a lady who has worked so hard to earn it!
Kay didn’t have her best stuff today, but you won’t hear her complain about it. She is another one who goes to practice every day as if it is her job to focus and run hard. As the lone senior on the team, she provides a great example for others to follow in her character and work ethic. She will be there when it counts – and you can quote me on that one!
Kayla had a really good day. She sometimes struggles on the mental side, but today, I felt like she had a little breakthrough. She gathered herself when it got really tough and fought really hard. That was the entire goal of the day. She gets an A+, just like she normally does in the classroom!
Becca ran her little heart out today and the payoff wasn’t nearly what she earned. She had to stop 200 meters from the finish line before she was able to get back on course and finish the race. But that’s the thing – she still finished the race. It would have been easy to just try to fade out of view and not finish. Really proud of her effort today.
Overall, I was excited to see how we did despite not having two great runners in the race and one who is struggling to get healthy enough to compete at the level she has always displayed in the past. Kathryn will be back to fight with Riley over that number one spot, Haley will get herself on course soon, and Rachel will get back to where she belongs. These three ladies have a ton of heart and fight. They will all be there when it really counts. I feel like things are going to come together and we will see some much greater things from this bunch this season.
UP NEXT
RECAP
The team, and indeed the entire field, was led by outstanding freshman Riley Jo Ford from Marlette High School and the small town of Caro, Michigan.
Running in her first ever collegiate meet, she took the lead in the first 10 meters and no one was ever close. For Riley, it was her first ever team victory, making the individual win part of a great package to go along with her first collegiate medal.
Junior Alex Gass followed her breakout sophomore season with another solid effort and the best time she has ever run on the terribly difficult course. She came home in fourth place overall.
Behind Alex in fifth place was sophomore Kate Roberts, who had one of her best efforts finishing third on the team. She had never finished higher than sixth on the team in prior contests.
Just behind Kate was senior Kay Vradenburgh. After finishing 4th in this race for the last two years in a row, Kay settled for a 6th place finish overall this year, making her the only Roadrunner on the team to finish all three years in the top ten.
Rounding out the scoring and the awards ceremony for the Roadrunners was freshman Kayla Mattox. She finished 8th overall and it left the ladies with two freshmen in the scoring for the winning team. It appears that the conference champions from a year ago could possibly be stronger than they were last year.
Finishing just outside the scoring and the awards in 11th place was sophomore Rebecca Poe. Becca ran a valiant race but was just edged out for the fifth spot on the team.
The competing ladies stepped up and ran a great race despite the fact that last year’s Freshman of the Year, Kathryn Vradenburgh, and University of North Georgia transfer Haley Tillery were held out of the meet for minor injuries. Also, junior Rachel Ward, a consistent top-5 scorer for the last two years, started the race, but was unable to finish.
QUOTES FROM COACH
Coach Thompson’s comments:
I was really proud of the way we competed today. In a race that was clearly ours from the gun, the ladies did not let up at all throughout the race. Some of them have struggled mentally just recently, but our goal today was for everyone to compete hard. Mission accomplished. We talked last night about how “Okay” is not good enough. We want to the best we can be every time we toe the line. They did that today, and today’s course was brutal. It was hot, they had to run over constantly rolling hills and through sand on a course that is a little longer than the standard 5K. I couldn’t be more proud of the grit I saw out there today.
How about Riley! She looked strong from start to finish. She’s just getting started too. We’ll see some strong competition soon and it will be interesting to see how she does against great competition. She’s really close to where Kathryn was last year and she was Freshman of the Year. That’s not bad company. Maybe the best thing about Riley is the attitude she brings with her. She helps to make everyone around her better.
Alex had another solid day, running fairly close to Riley for a while. She is not at her strongest right now, but that didn’t stop her from running hard and turning in an outstanding performance. There is no “give up” in Alex. She ALWAYS runs hard, even when it’s not easy to do.
Kate had a great day when the team needed her to have one. She was over a minute faster than she was last year on the same course, and on a day that the course was slower due to conditions. She has come a long way in the last year. She works hard all the time, and that effort is paying off. I love seeing the bright smile on a lady who has worked so hard to earn it!
Kay didn’t have her best stuff today, but you won’t hear her complain about it. She is another one who goes to practice every day as if it is her job to focus and run hard. As the lone senior on the team, she provides a great example for others to follow in her character and work ethic. She will be there when it counts – and you can quote me on that one!
Kayla had a really good day. She sometimes struggles on the mental side, but today, I felt like she had a little breakthrough. She gathered herself when it got really tough and fought really hard. That was the entire goal of the day. She gets an A+, just like she normally does in the classroom!
Becca ran her little heart out today and the payoff wasn’t nearly what she earned. She had to stop 200 meters from the finish line before she was able to get back on course and finish the race. But that’s the thing – she still finished the race. It would have been easy to just try to fade out of view and not finish. Really proud of her effort today.
Overall, I was excited to see how we did despite not having two great runners in the race and one who is struggling to get healthy enough to compete at the level she has always displayed in the past. Kathryn will be back to fight with Riley over that number one spot, Haley will get herself on course soon, and Rachel will get back to where she belongs. These three ladies have a ton of heart and fight. They will all be there when it really counts. I feel like things are going to come together and we will see some much greater things from this bunch this season.
UP NEXT
The Lady Roadrunners will host some teams at their home course at the Grove Level Running Trail in Dalton on Friday, September 18. The ladies’ gun goes off at 6:30 p.m.
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