On Halloween, the Collierville High School Boys Junior Varsity cross-country team was crowned Memphis/Shelby County Champions, after defeating Christian Brothers High School, Arlington High School, Houston High School, and Bartlett High School. Led by Junior Eric Vande Linde’s 2nd place finish, the Dragons edged out CBHS by a score of 35-43.
Running a smart and patient race, the Dragon harriers came through the mile as the 4th place team and then proceeded to attack. The CHS squad under the self-proclaimed moniker “Group 2” began passing competitors and moving up as a pack. Myles Jessop steadily passed fading CBHS runners throughout the last mile, finishing 3rd in the race and capping off a stellar 4 year career as champion. In individually inspiring races, Nathan Hunter (7th overall), Kyle Dahl (9th overall) and Captain Richie Sawyer (14th Overall) rounded out the top 5 scorers and secured the Dragon victory. The 1-5 pack time for the team was an excellent 36 seconds.
As 6th man Rocco Marchionda also played a role by displacing the Purple Wave’s 5th man and adding points to their team score. Other key contributors were Jonathan Tooby (24th), Kaleb Conway (32nd), David Mullaly (33rd), Andrew Kukkapalli (34th), Colton Brainard (35th), Miles Garland (38th), and Gabe Ramirez (65th).
The Collierville Boys JV team finishes the season with a record of 23-1.
The Collierville Girls Junior Varsity Team were runners-up to Houston High School in an extremely close contest on Saturday. The Lady Dragons placed 6 girls in the Top 10: Jessica Francis (3rd), Alyssa Loden (4th), Pavani Epparla (5th), Sofia Bologna (8th), Tania Binu (9th), and Mackenzie Toussaint (10th). With the top 2 finishers overall, the Mustangs were able to slip past the Collierville pack 27-29. Other contributors to the 2nd place finish were senior Alyssa Cotham (12th) and junior Susan Gonzalez (18th).
In the freshman girls race, Rena Dearborn represented CHS as our only competitor, placing 6th overall, breaking up Houston’s Top 5 pack and placing in front of all Bartlett’s freshmen. Way to go!
Six CHS boys freshmen ran a well-paced race, finishing 3rd behind CBHS and Bartlett. Cameron Blankenship (5th),Hudson Hall (8th), Andrew Graham (11th), Ayden Darety (16th), Cooper Meier (20th), and Andrew Zona (28th) have shown continuous improvement throughout the season. The future is bright for next year’s team.
Congratulations to everyone for a great season! Thanks for all your hard work!!
