Bison teams continue the streak

Portland High sophomore Chandler Sanders finished 37th in Thursday’s Thursday’s Region 5-AAA cross country meet.

Gallatin High sophomore Cole Stivers finished 36th in Thursday’s Thursday’s Region 5-AAA cross country meet.

Portland junior Sabrina Schuessler finished 34th in Thursday’s Thursday’s Region 5-AAA cross country meet.

Hendersonville High junior Steven Holman finished 23rd in Thursday’s Thursday’s Region 5-AAA cross country meet.

Hendersonville junior Julianna Royer finished 36th in Thursday’s Thursday’s Region 5-AAA cross country meet.

Gallatin sophomore Courtney Bryan finished 32nd in Thursday’s Thursday’s Region 5-AAA cross country meet.

HENDERSONVILLE With only 10 guaranteed spots for individuals along with three teams advancing to the state cross country meet, Thursday’s Region 5-AAA meet had a lot riding on it.

Beech High junior India Cooper (2002) runs with the pack just after the start of the Region 5-AAA cross country meet. Cooper finished sixth, helping the Lady Bucs qualify for the state meet. Station Camp seniors Mikki Davis (2346) and Maddie Gammon (2350) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, as the Lady Bison won the meet.

Station Camp High had the best formula for the pressure … win.

That’s exactly what both the Bison and Lady Bison did, winning the meet to send their teams to next Saturday’s Class AAA State Meet at Percy Warner Park’s Steeplechase Course.

The Bison edged Wilson Central by two points to win the boys’ meet, with Henry County finishing third.

Station Camp senior Nathan Watson placed third, leading five Bison finishers among the top 25.

“You’ve just got to know the competition,” Watson said. “I knew this was going to be a tough race going into it, and I just kind of prepared my body the last couple of days. Not taking it too hard, because I had to kick it at the end to have a good race. I think I prepared very well for it and took it conservative.”

Watson said he thought that Wilson Central would win, but he got a boost from seeing how quickly the rest of the Bison hit the finish line.

Station Camp High senior Nathan Watson approaches the finish line during Thursday’s Region 5-AAA cross country meet. Watson finished third, helping the Bison win the meet.

“We were very worried, because Henry County, Beech and us were very close,” Watson said. “Any team could have taken second or third. It was very nerve-wracking, but I saw all my teammates come through.”

Henry County swept the top two spots, with senior Javan Winders (16:07.29) besting sophomore Titus Winders by 8.73 seconds.

The Lady Bison had three finishers among the top five as freshman Faith Brown placed third, followed by seniors Mikki Davis and Madeline Gammon. All seven of Station Camp’s runners were among the top 30.

“You just run your hardest, and hope you can do it,” Brown said. “I tried my best. The two girls in front of me (Mt. Juliet freshman Hailey Parker and Rossview junior Anna Grose), I knew at the last race they were in front of me a little bit, and I was going to try and stay close to them and kick it in at the end.”

Station Camp’s teams qualified for the state meet for the 14th consecutive season, having advanced every year the school has been in existence. Station Camp competed in Class A-AA prior to 2009.

Station Camp High freshman Faith Brown finished third in Thursday’s Region 5-AAA cross country meet.

The Lady Bison finished in 16th place at last year’s state meet, while the Bison were 18th.

Parker won Thursday’s race in 20:22.79, finishing 3.64 seconds ahead of Grose. Brown finished in 21:02.90.

Station Camp edged Rossview by seven points, with Beech finishing third to qualify as a team.

Junior India Cooper placed sixth to pace the Lady Bucs, who had all six runners finish among the top 28.

“Personally, I’ve never done that,” Cooper said. “It was really awesome to see what I could push my body to, and I feel like I could do even better. It’s just weird that I’m going to be (at state), so that’s cool. I felt like I ran my best race.”

The Lady Bucs have qualified for the state meet as a team in each of the last four years, coming in 15th last year.

Beech senior Nash Young placed fourth in the boys race to qualify for the state meet as well.

Beech High senior Nash Young finished fourth in the Region 5-AAA cross country meet, qualifying for the state meet.

“It was great,” Young said. “I’m glad to qualify as an individual. I wish my team could have gotten in as well. At first, it started out a little slow, and I didn’t feel as good. But I got a second wind by the second mile, and I started cruising. At the end, it was a grind to the finish.”

Along with the top 10 individual finishers, all runners from the top three teams advance to the state meet.

Reach Chris Brooks at 615-575-7118 or on Twitter @CB_SumnerSports.

Region 5-AAA Cross Country Meet

Boys

Station Camp 60, Wilson Central 62, Henry County 77, Lebanon 97, Beech 101, Rossview 139, Mt. Juliet 166, Hendersonville 209, Clarksville 238, Gallatin 271, Northwest 357, Kenwood 373, West Creek 374, Northeast 390

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Girls

Station Camp 45, Rossview 52, Beech 81, Lebanon 90, Mt. Juliet 95, Wilson Central 190, Northeast 192, Hendersonville 217, Gallatin 261, Clarksville 269, Northwest 277

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