By Shirley Shuman
Freshman Addison Lloyd finished sixth in Saturday’s state cross country meet. The meet included 80 runners. The Braxton girls’ team placed fourth out of 10 teams. Commenting on her team’s performance, Coach Jennifer Berry said, “I so wanted them to place second as a team, but despite not being runner up, I think fourth at states is great! They have come so far, and we look forward to next year and plan to be back at states again.” The coach did mention one factor contributing to her team’s slower-than-expected performance. “Our team had some injuries and coped their best,” she said.
Placing second among her teammates, Laura Cain finished 24th. Bethany Payne followed at 32nd, and Heidi Payne placed 41st. Others and their places were Teagan Huff, 42nd, Lindsay Tetrick 60th, and Nicole Bramble 62nd.
Lloyd, who received All-State honors because of her finishing sixth, remarked that she was pleased with her placement although she finished one place lower than she had been predicted to finish. She pointed out that she had one of her best times in the state race. Asked what she’ll do to improve, she replied simply, “Work hard until next season,” and added, “I have a champs race coming up later in November and I plan to run a 15.3 mile race in January 2023.”
The Lady Eagles had an excellent season as they won the majority of the races they entered and were Region 2 champions. They will lose only one runner—Heidi Payne, to graduation.
