Congratulations to West High’s boys’ Cross Country team for placing first, and West High’s girls’ Cross Country team for placing second in the Panther Creek Invitational. They competed against other high schools, including: Alcoa, Gatlinburg-Pittman, Morristown East, Cherokee, and Claiborne. Thank you to all of the runners who participated in the meet for their hard work and perseverance.
Top West High finishers at Panther Creek Invitational.
In the end, West High triumphed but it wasn’t an easy race. Peyton Couch of the girls’ Cross Country team expressed, “Yesterday's meet was pretty decent for it being the first meet. It was very tough to push through the hot weather, but it was worth it in the end! I can't wait to see how much, not only me, but my team improves this year!” The race was truly worth it, excitingly, one cross country runner set a new personal record during the meet. Eluzai Flores Melchor of the boys’ Cross Country team stated, “I began the race tired, hurting, and hungry, but about a half mile in, that all just went away and I started sprinting. Somehow, I was just able to keep doing that and by the time I got to the end, I had a new personal record. I felt shocked about my new personal record.”
Jonathan Rivera Ramirez (134), Eluzai Flores Melchor (125), Elias Perez (133), and Luis Garcia Bautista (127)