Tharptown, Belgreen XC advance to state

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The Tharptown Wildcats cross-country team had a strong outing at the Class 1A/2A sectional meet Thursday. Tharptown’s boys and girls teams both finished in second place, earning spots in the state meet Saturday in Oakville in Lawrence County.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our boys and girls this season,” said Tharptown coach Joseph Brown. “Any success we have had is a product of their hard work and determination to get better every day. Each runner has taken pride in moving our program in a positive direction, and with that has come positive results. They began the season with the goal of being in this position at the end of the year, and it has been great to see them achieve that goal.”

Tharptown had four runners finish in the top 10 overall and six of the top 12. Alex Quintero finished fourth overall with a time of 18:56.46. Ismael Perez finished seventh with a time of 19:39.27. Edwin Vela finished ninth with a time of 20:01.73. Dylan Valdez finished tenth with a time of 20:11.68.

Tharptown had two girls finish in the top 10 overall: Gracie Montgomery and Abby Wilson finished ninth and 10th. Montgomery had a time of 23:42.354, and Wilson’s time was 23:46.873.

Belgreen’s boys cross-country team also earned a spot in the state meet.

“I am extremely proud of our runners and what they have accomplished,” said Belgreen coach Colby Cox. “They have worked very hard and are getting to enjoy the fruits of that work. They are determined to finish this season out strong at state and raise the bar high for the future of our program.”

Belgreen’s Canaan Stough finished fifth overall with a time of 18:59.44. Ivan Luna finished in 18th place, Miguel Perez in 21st place and Landon Cox in 26th place.

Belgreen’s Briseyda Luna finished sixth overall in the girls’ race, earning her a spot in the state meet as an individual. Luna’s time was 23:18.54.