‘Cane Cross Country Gets Under Way

A brutal heat index exceeding 98 degrees didn’t stop the Jasper County High School (JCHS) varsity cross country teams from giving a solid performance last Thursday at the GMC Small School Showcase in Milledgeville.

In their first meet of the season, the girls varsity team finished fourth of six teams while placing individual runners in first and second place.

The boys varsity team finished eighth of nine teams, ultimately prevailing over Brentwood School.

In the varsity girls race, junior Alina Jablonski took the lead early and followed the pace vehicle, placing first with a time of 22:28. Her younger sister, freshman Mari Jablonski, followed in second place with a time of 22:46, almost a minute in front of the next runner.

Completing Jasper County’s top five scored runners were sophomore newcomer Malia Moore, finishing in 32:14 for 34th place, sophomore Riley Burton, finishing in 33:00 for 37th place, and junior newcomer Morgan Clement, finishing in 35:38 for 43rd place.

Rounding out the JCHS girls team were three more athletes new to the team this year including freshman Claire Taylor (36:49, 48th place) sophomore Ansley Atkinson (37:51, 49th place) and freshman Emily Cavender (37:57, 50th place). The girls prevailed over John Milledge Academy by 18 points and Lake Oconee Academy by 44 points.

The varsity boys team was led by senior Robert Womack, who posted the fastest JCHS time of the day with a 21:07 and 17th place in the boys race. Junior Mario Garcia finished next for the Canes, completing his debut cross country race in 23:40 for 46th place.

Completing the team’s top five were junior newcomer Jovani Gonzales (25:01, 54th place) junior Jack Johnson (25:03, 56th place) and sophomore Drew Schilling (25:04, 57th place). Rounding out the boys team were junior Joseph Billings (26:21, 65th place) senior Niall Alhasi (27:01, 67th place) sophomore newcomer Kevin Ortiz (29:13, 70th place) and sophomore newcomer Marcos Moore (30:36, 73rd place).

Head coach Andy Rewis was pleased with the team’s performance, noting that the majority of the runners lack experience (just four boys and two girls are returning from last year) and that the team only began practices three weeks ago.

“We still need to work on endurance and on finding our paces,” Coach Rewis commented. “But our numbers are good so if they continue to work hard they should get better.”

The cross country teams were to visit Thomaston earlier this week for a meet hosted by Upson Lee High School.