On her shoes, Oak Ridge senior Adrian Etheridge wrote "500" and "Warrior" to signify the amount of hard work she did over the summer.
Saturday, she showed just how much that hard work had paid off.
The Lady Wildcat won the five-kilometer McCallie Invitational cross country meet at Greenway Farm with a time of 19 minutes, 10.69 seconds. That was nearly seven seconds faster than second-place Natalie Ritchie of Knoxville Webb. Louisville Trinity's Jake Wildenmann, the top Class AAA runner in Kentucky, won the boys' race.
Team titles went to Oak Ridge's girls and Montgomery Bell Academy's boys.
Etheridge, who recently committed to run for UNC-Asheville, said the message on her shoes referred to the 500 miles she ran this summer. She was one of three team members - and the only girl - to accomplish the feat.
"I felt pretty good, but it's hard running by myself," she said of Saturday's race. "We run a lot of competitive meets, so there's usually not such a gap. The course had a lot of hills, which really plays into what we like to do. They [the hills] hurt a lot of people, but it's what we're used to."
McMinn Central's Dianna Eddington finished 13th.
Wildenmann pulled away from MBA's Michael Peters in the final 800 meters to claim the boys' victory.
"It wasn't my best, but I knew I could perform well," Wildenmann said. "It wasn't a very fast course. Going up that hill three times was rough.
"It was a small meet, but there were a lot of quality runners."
McCallie was the top area team finisher, taking fourth.
"We had a couple of personal bests today, but it was a very strong field," McCallie coach Mike Wood said. "The competition will only help us. I'd rather have a small, elite meet than some of these huge ones."
McCallie was led by freshman Michael Jones, who was 10th. Senior Gil Walton, who can run only junior varsity for the Tornado due to receiving an academic scholarship, ran unattached with the Ridge Runners and was eighth.
Baylor wins Southeast
The Baylor girls won Saturday at the Southeast Cross Country Showdown in Birmingham, Ala.
The Lady Red Raiders finished with an exceptional score of 47 points - 64 fewer than second-place Dr. Phillips High School of Orlando, Fla. Baylor senior Hannah Jumper was second individually, covering the 5k in 18:38, her best time of the year. Classmate Tenley Godfrey was fifth in 19:02.
"I thought we ran great," Baylor coach Heather Ott said. "We've really been working on racing as a team and getting ready for some later meets."
Twins Becca and Rachel Greenwall finished ninth and 10th.
"They really stepped up for us today," Ott said. "I'm just pleased with how everybody ran. It was very hot and very strenuous, with a lot of hills, so to win so big is very satisfying."