SPORTS BRIEFS: Darton’s David Thornton shatters school cross country record

Darton’s Thornton shatters school cross country record

Darton State College took its sixth consecutive sweep of the Region 17 Cross Country Championships at the Georgia Children’s Home in Macon on Saturday.

And sophomore David Thornton set a new school-record in the men’s 8,000-meter run.

“They were great,” Darton head cross country coach Bruce Skiles said of his teams. “They stepped up and did it.”

But none were greater than Thornton, who finished over a minute ahead of everyone.

“I was racing the clock,” he said. “I wanted to break the record, and I felt like this race was going to be my best shot.”

He finished the 8K (5 miles) in 25:38.26, winning the individual region title and trampling the previous Darton record of 26:04.38 set by Jared Richmond at the 2012 Region Championships.

“I prayed before the race,” Thornton said, “and it happened.”

A year ago, Thornton finished the 2013 Region Championship in 5th place – which was stong enough for First Team All-Region 17 honors – but it didn’t sit well with him.

“Ever since that day I’ve been focused,” he said. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to do better than this next year.’ I trained hard everyday and all through the summer for this.”

And nearly all of the Cavaliers ran their best races too. Austin Stewart finished second in 26:50, while Jose Bautista finished third at 27:02. Jelani Omari finished fourth at 27:12, while Jon Henry Beers finished 16th at 30:23.

Darton won with 25 points. South Georgia College took second with 49 points, and Gordon State finished third with 77.

In the women’s race, Amber Braswell finished the women’s 5K (3.1 miles) in 20:43, taking second and leading the Lady Cavaliers to their seventh region title since the program began 8 years ago.

Tatiana Forester finished fourth at 21:23. Victoria Parra finished sixth at 21:52. Shamicah Tardy took seventh at 21:52.1, and Stephanie Estrada finished ninth at 22:31.

Darton scored 27 points. North Georgia Tech finished 2nd with 51 points, and Oxford College of Emory scored 86 points to finish 3rd.

North Georgia Tech’s Reese Bowles won the race in 20:36.

The wins punched Darton’s ticket to the 2014 NJCAA D-3 National Cross Country Championships at Finger Lakes Community College in New York on Nov. 8.

MacKenzie, Svoboda share lead at Sea Island

Will MacKenzie produced a roller-coaster, birdie-bogey-birdie finish to share the lead with fellow American Andrew Svoboda after the third round of the $5.6 million McGladrey Classic at Sea Island in Georgia on Saturday.

MacKenzie, who had delivered the shot of the day with a spectacular ace at the par-three sixth, fired a five-under-par 65 in ideal scoring conditions on the Seaside Course to post a 12-under total of 198.

In pursuit of his third career victory on the PGA Tour, the 40-year-old from North Carolina ended the round with a flourish by draining a monster putt from 44 feet at the par-four last.

“That was huge,” a beaming MacKenzie told Golf Channel of his unexpected birdie to close. “My caddie, he actually redeemed himself on 18. He said ‘it’s about time for Willy Mac to drop a bomb.’

“And I go, ‘Yeah, we haven’t really made any bombs this week.’ So he got me thinking and obviously I hit it hard enough. I just got lucky there but it feels great.

“After butchering 17, that’s huge momentum for me. Dinner will taste better,” added MacKenzie, who has not triumphed on the PGA Tour since the 2008 Viking Classic.

His birdie on 18 left him in a tie at the top with journeyman Svoboda, who rebounded from a double-bogey at the 11th with three birdies in the last six holes for a 66.

Fellow American Russell Henley, the overnight leader who is also seeking a third win on the U.S. circuit, was alone in third at 11 under after carding a three-birdie 68.