Jamborees are usually opportunities for people to showcase their potential for the upcoming seasons.
If that's the case, Bradley Central's Paul Patterson, Baylor's Simon Holden and the East Hamilton boys' and Baylor girls' teams are primed for 2011 cross country success.
Patterson won the five-kilometer jamboree event at Baylor on Tuesday in 16 minutes, 58 seconds. Baylor's Ruthie Townsend won the girls' race in 21:21.
Although the races weren't scored, the Hurricanes and Bradley Central seemed to the top two boys' teams in attendance. East Hamilton had three of the top six finishers, with junior Nick McCormick finishing second in 17:10. The Bears had three of the top 12.
Baylor had the top two girls' slots, with Haley Chandler finishing in 21:34 -- a second faster than Rhea County junior Madalyn Garland.
Bradley sophomore Vadim Kholod was taken to T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital after collapsing during the last portion of the race. Preliminary reports were positive, as it appeared heat exhaustion was the cause.
Patterson and Holden were neck-and-neck halfway through the race, but the Baylor junior dropped out at the two-mile mark.
"I felt really good out there," Patterson said. "I didn't run all that fast, but I did want to win. I just relaxed and had fun out there."
Baylor coach Jan Gautier noted that Holden wasn't an exhaustion issue, rather a timing issue.
"We just finished our second day of school," she said, "and this was an opportunity for some of our guys to earn their jerseys."
Baylor's boys ran in white T-shirts.
"I just wanted the guys to play around and let us see what they could do," Gautier said. "It's a long season and we're a ways away from November."