Even in limited meets during the 2012 cross country season, McMinn County’s Haley Ward has proven that there is just a separation between her and other area runners. Thursday afternoon at the Front Runner Athletics meet at Baylor, that separation was about 45 seconds.
Ward claimed her second victory in her third meet of the season, completing the five-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 17.61 seconds. It was a warmup for region meets next Thursday for public schools, followed by the state meet at Percy Warner Park in Nashville.
The following week will have the Georgia state races in Carrollton and the National Association of Christian Athletes meet at Fort Bluff near Dayton.
Baylor’s Simon Holden won the boys’ meet Thursday in 16:06.36, while Baylor’s girls and McCallie claimed the team titles.
“I was pleased that I got the win, but I’m going to have to run a lot faster to win the state meet,” said Ward, also a soccer player who won the 2011 Class AAA individual title. “I tried to go out a little slower than I normally do, which was a change, and go faster towards the end.