In a thrilling display of team running, the Montgomery Catholic Boys Cross Country team defeated Montgomery Academy, 41-40, to claim their first Montgomery Metropolitan Championship. The Racing Knights were paced by senior Corey Cotter’s third win of the season as he covered the challenging Blount Cultural Park 5K course in a new meet record of 17:49. The Knights were down a runner due to injury and it required grit and determination for the squad to beat back the Eagles. Every scoring runner after Cotter ran their fastest time ever to secure the coveted championship T-shirts. Junior Nick Smith placed third in 18:05, sophomore Skip Martin was seventh in 18:39, and freshman Matt Pouncey was 9th in 19:10. All of them earned All-Metro honors. Junior Josh Stark set a personal record by almost 30 seconds when he sprinted home in 20:24 to secure 20th place and the narrow victory. The Knights beat entries from 10 other teams in the River Region in claiming the championship.
The Girls’ race highlighted the superior depth of Montgomery Academy as they placed all five of their scorers in the top 10 to beat LAMP, 21-54. St James junior Taylor Duncan won the individual crown in 21:09 over MA sophomore Krisie Stakely (21:28). Catholic senior Lizzie Terino led the Lady Knights by finishing seventh (22:52). Freshman MacKenzie Colvin earned All-Metro honors by finishing tenth in 23:24. The Catholic squad was without its top two runners due to injury, but freshman Ann Marie Dean (25:35), senior Shannon Guin (26:29), and 7th grader Macie Sommers (30:17) picked up the slack and rallied the team to a third place finish.
Pictured: Montgomery Catholic senior Corey Cotter and junior Nick Smith compete in the Montgomery Metropolitan Championship at Blount Cultural Park in Montgomery. Montgomery Catholic’s Cross Country Team at the Montgomery Metropolitan Championship and their “Team Champs” t-shirts.
