Junior Lucy Yeomans (right) and sophmore Samantha Brodrick (left) run on the track at Clarke Central High School during the cross country team’s 6:30 a.m. practice on Aug. 22. Yeomans is the captain of the girls team and has high expectations for the rest of the season. “I want to improve my time from last year and I want to break the school record,” Yeomans said. “Right now, our girls team is rated fourth in the state, so I want us to make the podium this year, which is fourth in the state. That would be great. And I want us to win in our region, as well.” Photo by Kelly Fulford
The Clarke Central High School cross country team leaves on Aug. 31 for a weekend trip to attend the Jekyll Island Invitational Meet.
Clarke Central High School cross country runners who participated in a fundraiser organized by physical education department teacher and head cross country coach Alex Holmes are spending Labor Day weekend on Jekyll Island to compete in the Jekyll Island Invitational 5K race. The team will leave CCHS on Aug. 31 and the race will be held on Sept. 1 at 7 a.m.
“On Friday, we’ll get out of school a little bit early so that we can get to the course in time to see it and preview the course we’re gonna run on Saturday,” Holmes said.
According to Holmes, the trip is not only about the race, but rewarding the students who participated in the fundraiser.
“Friday night we’ll kind of hang out, go out to eat and just have a good time. Saturday we will go run our meet early in the morning and then, the rest of the day, we just kind of have different stuff planned,” Holmes said. “We’ll definitely go the beach, have a good time at the beach and we may go to putt putt. We want to have a good time and reward them.”
Junior and girls cross country captain Lucy Yeomans expects the trip to be beneficial to the team dynamic.
“It’s a two-night trip. We’re gonna leave on Friday and spend the night Friday night and Saturday night. I’m pretty sure we’re gonna like hang out at the beach and I think it’s gonna be like a team bonding thing,” Yeomans said.
Holmes is also anticipating an exciting weekend for the team.
“Last year we went to state, they ran early in the morning the next day. We did spend the night that night, but it was more business. This one we’re gonna run, but it’s gonna be fun after the run, so it’ll be a little different than last year’s overnight stay. This is the first time we’re going and having a little bit of fun after a run,” Holmes said.
