Young joins Holden with CCCL wins

Mallory Young isn't accustomed to running among the lead pack. The Signal Mountain sophomore finished no better than 18th in any cross country meet last season, so having a chance to run toward the front was new to her.

She's clearly a quick learner.

Young was the girls' winner in the first 2012 Chattanooga Cross Country League meet Monday at Chickamauga Dam, winning the five-kilometer race in 21 minutes, 48.67 seconds. Baylor's Simon Holden won the boys' race in 16:44.05, eight seconds ahead of runner-up Nick McCormick of East Hamilton. Team titles went to Heritage's girls and Baylor's boys.

Young passed GPS's Lucy Whitfield around the two-mile mark but had to hold off the home-schoolers' Karla Vradenburgh down the stretch.

"I didn't hear her, but I thought it was the GPS girl," Young said. "Towards the end the adrenaline hit me and I pulled it out towards the chute."

Heritage's Caitlin Craft and Sarah Buckler finished third and fourth. Whitfield was fifth.

Holden had a major kick down the stretch. Walker Valley's Patrick Shultz was third, and Ooltewah's Ben Oates and Baylor's Dillon Clemmer rounded out the top five.

"Nick and I ran together up until the final stretch. I pulled away with about 250 meters to go," Holden said. "I ran a little slower than I'd hoped ... but it wasn't a bad time."

Said McCormick: "I'm pretty happy with how I ran. This is a difficult course; I wanted to break 17 minutes and I did. I like the competition that Simon provides. It helps me see where I am."