Pinewood Cross Country Crosses the Finish Line
This year, PCA’s Varsity team completed in their third season of cross country, and the JV team completed their first season. Coached by Mrs. Paula Johns, both teams attended several private and public school meets.
First Cross Country Meet
Monday, August 29, Pinewood attended the first cross country meet of the year at Bulloch Academy. The JV girls ran a 1.5 mile course and were led by Lilly Griffin in 8th place overall with a time of 12:52. She was followed by Ally McCall 15th (13:18), Riley Nevil 24th (14:41), Ella Johns 25th (14:42), Abi Pazderski 30th (17:20), Grace Ann Nevil 31st (17:27), Julie Collins 33rd (18:05), Emily Jarriel 34th (18:08), and Jena Hales 35th (18:09). The girls placed third in the team competition with a score of 66 behind Bulloch Academy with 46 points and Frederica with 23 points.
The JV boys also ran a 1.5 mile course, and they had five runners that placed in the top twenty. Pinewood boys were led by Truett Roundtree in 11th place with a time of 11:50. Following him was Luke Scott 13th (11:58), JT Cofield 14th (12:00), Jax Lewis 15th (12:07), Camden Johns 20th (12:28), Walker Todd 23rd (12:41), Kaedan Arnold 26th (13:06), Banks Durrence 29th (13:46), Ben Wilbanks 35th (14:55), Brandon Manvile 39th (16:17), Larry Dietrich 41st (16:34), and Wesley Tippins 42nd (16:35). The boys tallied 66 points to earn third place finishing ahead of Frederica’s score of 76 and Bulloch’s 108. Pinewood was edged out by Vidalia Heritage Academy who had 61 points and Trinity Christian who won with 33 points.
In the Varsity run of 3.1 miles, the PCA girls had three runners that placed in the top twenty. Emily Griffin came in 5th place with a time of 25:48 and was followed by Rachel Jarriel 7th (26:21), Carsen Kennedy 16th (30:10), Madeline Thompson 24th (30:49), Sarah Whiten 28th (34:21), Morgan Todd 29th (34:34), Haley Thompson 34th (37:42), Michala Hobbs 39th (41:26), and Nola Rushing 40th (41:51). The girls finished in third place with 54 points ahead of DEA’s 58 points and behind CCA and Trinity Christian who both had 51 points. The tie was broken by using the score of the 6th place runner for each team resulting in Trinity coming out on top with the win.
PCA’s Varsity boys finished second overall and had three runners to place in the top twenty. They were paced by Brantley Swindell 9th (20:25) who was followed by Jackson Godbee 11th (21:28), William Collins 14th (22:33), Haden Belding 21st (24:07), Kyle Barnard 28th (25:37), Nathan Scott 30th (26:35), Trey Kennedy 31st (26:35), Nicholas Strickland 38th (29:09), and Aaron Lyons 41st (30:11). The teams’ final scores were Trinity Christian 28, PCA 71, Bulloch 84, Frederica 91, CCA 96, and VHA 136.
Augusta Prep Varsity Meet
On Saturday, September 10, Pinewood attended their second cross country meet of the year at Augusta Prep. This was a Varsity only meet, so Pinewood’s JV teams were not able to run. Because this meet included sixteen schools, only the top seven runners from each team could participate.
In the girls’ race, the PCA girls placed 11th overall. Pinewood’s girls were led by Emily Griffin with a time of 23:56, and she was followed by Rachel Jarriel (24:53), Carsen Kennedy (27:26), Anna Scott (29:43), Sarah Whiten (29:52), Madeline Thompson (30:53), and Morgan Todd (33:08).
PCA’s Varsity boys finished in 16th place overall. They were paced by Brantley Swindell (20:40) who was followed by Jackson Godbee (21:51), William Collins (22:37), Haden Belding (23:19), Trey Kennedy (24:35), Nicholas Strickland (25:41), and Aaron Lyons (30:16).
Tattnall Varsity Cross Country Meet
On Thursday, September 22, Pinewood’s varsity team traveled to Tattnall High School to attend their third meet this year. Pinewood’s girls finished 1st out of five teams. They were led by Rachel Jarriel who came in 1st place with a time of 23:05. She was followed by Emily Griffin (23:39), Carsen Kennedy (24:20), Madeline Thompson (28:06), Anna Scott (28:37), Haley Thompson (31:26), Morgan Todd (31:39), and Michala Hobbs (37:26).
PCA’s varsity boys placed 4th out of six teams. The lead runner for Pinewood was Brantley Swindell (19:21), who was followed by Jackson Godbee (20:25), William Collins (21:04), Haden Belding (21:14), Nicholas Strickland (22:35), Trey Kennedy (22:47), and Aaron Lyons (25:16).
Southeast Bulloch Cross Country Meet
On Thursday, September 29, Pinewood attended Southeast Bulloch’s cross country meet. The JV girls ran a 2 mile course and were led by Lilly Griffin who finished with a time of 15:30. She was followed by Ally McCall (16:18), Abi Pazderski (17:59), Riley Nevil (19:00), Julie Collins (20:57), Grace Ann Nevil (21:13), Emily Jarriel (23:14), and Jena Hales (23:41).
The JV boys also ran a 2 mile course, and Pinewood boys were led by Truett Roundtree who came in with a time of 14:45. Following him were Jax Lewis (15:13), JT Cofield (16:56), Colt Bragg (17:23), Brandon Manville (19:36), Ben Wilbanks (20:25), and Larry Dietrich (20:39).
In the varsity girls’ run of 3.1 miles, Pinewood came in 3rd place. Rachel Jarriel finsihed with a time of 24:00 and was followed by Emily Griffin (25:06), Carsen Kennedy (26:48), Madeline Thompson (29:43), Anna Scott (29:45), Sarah Whiten (32:04), Haley Thompson (32:06), Morgan Todd (32:13), and Michala Hobbs.
PCA’s varsity boys finished in 7th place. They were paced by Brantley Swindell (19:57) who was followed by Jackson Godbee (21:35), William Collins (21:35), Haden Belding (22:45), Trey Kennedy (23:05), Nicholas Strickland (23:34), and Aaron Lyons (25:45).
Second Bulloch Meet
Monday August 29, Pinewood attended the first cross country meet of the year at Bulloch Academy. The JV girls ran a 1.5 mile course and were led by Lilly Griffin in [] place overall with a time of (:). She was followed by Ally McCall []th (:), Riley Nevil []th (:), Ella Johns []th (:), Abi Pazderski []th (:), Grace Ann Nevil []st (:), Julie Collins []th (:), Emily Jarriel []th (:), and Jena Hales []th (:). The girls placed [] in the team competition with a score of [] behind Bulloch Academy with [] points and Frederica with [] points.
The JV boys also ran a 1.5 mile course, and they placed [] runners in the top twenty. Pinewood boys were led by Truett Roundtree in []th place with a time of (:). Following him was Luke Scott []th (:), JT Cofield []th (:), Jax Lewis []th (:), Camden Johns []th (:), Walker Todd []rd (:), Kaedan Arnold []th (:), Banks Durrence []th (:), Ben Wilbanks []th (:), Brandon Manvile []th (:), Larry Dietrich []st (:), and Wesley Tippins []nd (:). The boys tallied [] points to earn [] place finishing ahead of Frederica’s score of [] and Bulloch’s []. Pinewood was edged out by Vidalia Heritage Academy who had [] points and Trinity Christian who won with [] points.
In the Varsity run of 3.1 miles, the PCA girls earned [] place. They were paced by Rachel Jarriel (23:30) who was followed by Emily Griffin (23:54), Carsen Kennedy (25:14), Anna Scott (29:29), Madeline Thompson (29:33), Haley Thompson (30:49), Morgan Todd (31:00), and Michala Hobbs (38:41). The girls finished in [] place out of [] teams.
PCA’s Varsity boys finished [] overall. Brantley Swindell finished with a time of 19:34, and he was followed by Jackson Godbee (20:53), Haden Belding (22:27), William Collins (22:54), Nicholas Strickland (24:06), Trey Kennedy (25:12), and Aaron Lyons (27:19)
Middle School State Cross Country Meet
On October 15th, Pinewood’s JV teams traveled to Sandersville to compete in the middle school state championship. PCA’s girls were led by Lilly Griffin with a time of 14:56. She was followed by Ally McCall (16:32), Riley Nevil (16:47), Abi Pazderski (17:25), Ella Johns (17:43), Julie Collins (19:47), Grace Ann Nevil (19:47), Jena Hales (20:47), and Emily Jarriel (21:15). The girls finished in 7th place.
Pinewood boys were led by Nathan Scott, who finished with a time of 13:53. Following him was Truett Roundtree (14:43) Luke Scott (14:50), Jax Lewis (15:14), Camden Johns (15:46), Walker Todd (16:31), Colt Bragg (16:49), Brandon Manville (18:33), Larry Dietrich (18:43), and Ben Wilbanks (18:46). The boys earned 4th place out of 8 schools.
Region Cross Country Meet
On Wednesday, October 19th our varsity cross country teams traveled to Trinity Christian Academy to compete in the GISA Region 2 meet. Pinewood girls were led by Rachel Jarriel, who finished with a time of 24:58. She was followed by Emily Griffin (25:00), Carsen Kennedy (25:28), Madeline Thompson (29:56), Sarah Whiten (30:42), Haley Thompson (33:10), Morgan Todd (33:16), and Michala Hobbs (41:17). Pinewood girls finished in 3rd place and advanced to state.
One of our boys, Brantley Swindell (20:47), was an all-region runner. Following him was Jackson Godbee (21:52), William Collins (21:56), Haden Belding (23:41), Nicholas Strickland (24:39), Trey Kennedy (25:19), and Aaron Lyons (25:38). PCA’s boys finished behind Trinity to earn the title of region runner up.
Varsity State Cross Country Meet
On Saturday, October 29, Pinewood’s varsity cross country teams competed in the GISA AAA state cross country meet at Augusta Prep. Emily Griffin led Pinewood’s girls with a time of 22:29. Following her was Rachel Jarriel (22:54), Carsen Kennedy (24:27), Madeline Thompson (27:47), Sarah Whiten (28:43), Haley Thompson (30:45), and Morgan Todd (30:47). Out of 14 teams, PCA’s girls earned 11th place.
Brantley Swindell was the first runner to finish for Pinewood’s boys, coming in with a time of 20:34. Behind him was William Collins (21:31), Nicholas Strickland (22:27), Trey Kennedy (23:31), Aaron Lyons (23:36), and Haden Belding (29:37). PCA’s boys came in 13th place out of 15 teams.
This year’s cross country teams faced stiff competition, fought inclement weather, overcame injuries, and endured other hardships. Overall, the cross country teams had a successful season and pressed on to compete at state.
By: Haley Thompson, junior
