By Staff
From staff reports
For the T.R. Miller Lady Tiger cross country team at the class 3A state meet Saturday in Oakville, the number two was the theme.
For the second straight year, the Lady Tigers took home the second place runner-up trophy as they lost to Montgomery Academy for the second straight year—this year by only two points.
The Lady Tigers finished first, second, third, in the race with the remaining top-five finishers taking fifth and 30th.
While T.R. Miller claimed four of the top five slots, Montgomery Academy was able to post finishes of fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and 14th to post 39 points to T.R. Miller’s 41.
Karisa Nelson, an eighth grader, finished first with a time of 18:53.96 and was the overall class 3A state champion. “Karisa made her mind up back in the summer that she was going to win the state championship,” Atkinson said. “She has trained like it all year long. That has been the biggest difference in her and some in the past as she has just trained for it.
Karisa said Saturday’s race went really well for her and the team.
As for being the class 3A state champion as an eighth grader, Karisa said that it feels really good.
Katie Nelson, another eighth grader, took second with a time of 19:32.02.
Shelby Youngblood, a freshman, placed third with a time of 19:48.55 and Amber Nelson, a sophomore, placed fifth with a time of 20:12.16.
Amber Terry, another eighth grader, placed in 30th place with a time of 22:46.87.
Taylor Guthrie and Abbi Carlson, both sophomores, placed 57th and 60th with times of 25:36.26 and 25:52.19 respectively.
Montgomery Academy’s runners were senior, freshman, senior, freshman, and sophomore.
Atkinson said he was proud of all his girl runners.
Atkinson said while the goal for the girls was to win state, he was proud of the effort and that Montgomery Academy was just a better team than they were.
For the T.R. Miller boys, Brandon Nelson and Matt Ray qualified as individuals from sectionals and placed second and 12th at state.
Nelson ran a time of 16:52.95 and Ray finished with a time of 17:57.60.
Atkinson said he could not say enough good things about Ray.