Henry Plowden wins Middle School cross country title
Staff Reports
Middle school cross country teams from across the state gathered in Cochran for the Middle School Cross Country State Championship Meet last. More than 110 schools and 1800 athletes competed in the races that were divided according to the high school students will run at — Large School (6A and 5A), Medium School (4A and 3A) and Small School (2A and 1A).
Southwest Georgia has a strong reputation for track runners, but a new generation of distance runners is emerging. Lee County is the only system that offers a middle school program in the Albany-area, however, many other schools offer training to eighth-graders as a part of the high school cross country programs.
Competing in the Medium School category, Henry Plowden (8th Grade Robert Cross) won the state title with a time of 11:15 on the hilly two-mile course. His time was the second fastest of the day behind the Large School winner, Max Mowrer of Dunwoody, who ran an 11:04.
Plowden trains with Westover High School and is the only middle school boy in the program.
Worth County’s Briana Zupko finished seventh overall in the girls race with a time of 13:33.
In the Large School Division, Lee County sent four teams. Top runners for the program were Josh Macklin (sixth grade Lee County Middle East) who placed 12th overall with a time of 12:05 and Ben Phillips (8th Grade Lee County Middle West) who placed 15th overall with a time of 12:12.
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