Thomas County Central High School Cross Country team had a solid season from start to finish.
The season wrapped with a state meet, which was held at Carrollton High School in Carrollton on Saturday, Nov. 7. Despite the rainy weather in Carrollton, both the girls and boys teams completed the AAAA state meet.
"Running in the state meet was definitely one of the most memorable races I have ever participated in," senior Sam Gelabert said. "The race conditions really pushed us to our limits and showed our coaches that we were capable of accomplishing anything."
Coach Tony Voyles said the team continued “to do speed work and really added a lot of hill work in the last month to get ready for the state course."
The boys team finished in 22nd place out of 31 teams, and the girls finished 26 out of 31 teams.
The cross country team consists of 23 boys and 14 girls. The coaches are Voyles and Thomas Rhinehart.
"The team gets along very well, so the practices are physically hard, but we always have a good time," Voyles said. "Some runners are there to compete, some are trying to prepare for other sports, and some are there to stay healthy."
The team attended several meets this season. These included: Bainbridge High School, Albany (Deerfield Windsor Schools Race), Westover High School, Thomasville High School, and TCCHS hosted a regular season meet as well as the region meet.
At region, the boys finished in second and the girls finished in fourth, which meant both the girls and the boys teams earned a post in the state meet.
"Sam Gelabert has been the number one runner for the boys all season," Voyles said. "He was the region champion last year, but was unable to defend that position this year due to an injury.”
Cara Eaton is leader on the girls team.
"She is new to cross country this year, and finished second in region," Voyles said. "She will continue to improve as she gets more miles and training."
The team was able to finish strong after working hard all season.
"This season was one that I will never forget," junior Angela Cipriani said. "It makes me so happy to see great results from our team after all the hard work we put in.”