Warren wraps up runaway title
reenbrier's Tyler Warren won the Class AAAA state cross- country title last Saturday in Carrollton. Warren finished 4 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Two of his Wolfpack teammates also finished in the top 15 in the state meet.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
For the second time in as many weeks, Greenbrier brought home a state championship.
Tyler Warren followed the lead set by Greenbrier's state championship softball team by winning the Class AAAA individual cross country state championship in Carrollton.
Warren's time of 16:10.11 was 4 seconds better than the second-place finisher, Pete Zimmerman, of Marist.
"I was pretty confident heading into the meet," Warren said. "I expected to win because I had been ranked No. 1 (in Class AAAA) all season. I worked hard to get to this point, so it is rewarding."
Warren is also ranked sixth in the state, regardless of classification.
"I don't think some people understand what an honor it is to be ranked in the top 10," coach Kati Smallwood said recently. "He's great and deserves the recognition."
Teammates Miguel Mota and Tyler Hayden finished a minute behind Warren in 13th and 14th places, respectively.
"I am proud of how everyone ran," Warren said. "We had a perfect score (top five places for one team) in the region finals, so to place three runners in the top 15 in the state is pretty good. There is a group of us that push each other and we want each other to succeed."
Zach Sapp (47), Tyler Mills (54), Kyle Kendrick (71) and Wesley Ryan (93) rounded out the boys team for Greenbrier. Their collective efforts earned the Wolfpack a second-place finish in the team standings. The Wolfpack finished behind Marist, which won its third consecutive state boys cross country title.
Warren says he will take off the winter sports season before he competes for the track team next spring.
"I want to add a little more to my trophy case," said Warren, who holds the school record in the 800 and 1,600 meters. "I want to end my senior year with a bang."
Warren says he will concentrate on the 1,600 and 3,200 events during track season. He finished third in the state this past season in the 1,600 meters.
Some of the schools Warren is looking at attending on scholarship are Georgia, Clemson and Troy State.
"Our three top boys runners will all have a shot to run in college," Smallwood said recently. "They all have schools looking at them and should receive scholarships."
Other county schools competed at the state meet.
The Greenbrier girls finished 11th with a young team consisting of no seniors. Junior Bridget Lyons finished 29th and Chelsea Maxwell came in 30th.
Other Greenbrier runners: Emily Cook (83), Tabatha Pilgrim (88), Amanda Wong (93), Michelle Swiec (109), and Sierral Wilson (110).
The Evans girls team finished 16th with a strong effort from Holly Hess (56) and Emily Belchyk (58). Also running for Evans were Angela Griffin (105), Abey Jones (115), Allison Stfat (124), Tianee Gay (142) and Kayla Bourne (152).
Lakeside was represented by Kyle Keenly (90) on the boys side and Ellen Kist (81) for the girls.