Whatley Fountain shatters personal best against elite field at Alexander Invitational

Deerfield-Windsor cross country coach Jake Clawson knew Whatley Fountain needed something he wasn’t getting at home.

Someone to push him.

So Fountain headed north Saturday to compete in the Alexander (Brian Robinson) Invitational at Foxhall Sporting Club in Douglasville, one of the largest and most competitive cross country meets in Georgia.

The result was the fastest 5K of Fountain’s career.

Fountain finished ninth in the championship boys race in 15 minutes, 25.64 seconds, slicing more than 10 seconds off the personal best he established just two weeks ago.

“He needed to go to a bigger meet to be pushed,” Clawson said. “Our home meet is the biggest meet in this area, but no one even tried to challenge him.”

This time, Fountain had plenty of company.

Witt Windham won the championship race in 14:58.61, setting the pace for a field that included some of the state’s top runners. Fountain stayed among the leaders and crossed in ninth, only 27.03 seconds behind Windham.

The performance represented another significant step forward for the Deerfield-Windsor standout.

Fountain entered Saturday with a personal best of 15:36.44, the time he ran while winning the Deerfield-Windsor Invitational on Sept. 19. Saturday’s 15:25.64 lowered that mark by 10.80 seconds. MileSplit had Fountain seeded fourth entering the Alexander meet based on that previous personal best.

“That is the best meet in the state,” Clawson said. “A big-time run for Whatley.”

There is plenty to support Clawson’s assessment. MileSplit billed the Alexander Invitational as the biggest meet of the year in Georgia, with 4,524 athletes entered, and 150 teams were registered across the various races and divisions.

For Fountain, however, the trip wasn’t about the size of the meet as much as the quality of the runners around him.

Two weeks after running away from the field on his home course, Fountain finally got the challenge Clawson believed he needed.

And he responded by running faster than he ever had before.