Congratulations to Senior Owen McDaniel for his 16th place finish in the 2014 GHSA Class AAAAA State Cross Country Championship. McDaniel ran 17:07 to finish 16th out of 228 runners on Saturday, November 8 in Carrollton.
The day started early, just after 5:00am, with temperatures below 40 degrees. Thankfully two things were missing from the previous week's Region meet: wind and snow flurries. At 7:45am, the gun signaled the start on the two-loop course; a mass of runners sprinted for the crucial first turn. The first turn can get crowded and slow for those not in the front of the pack. McDaniel was perfectly placed in the top 20 at the turn. He settled in the pack as others surged around him. McDaniel ran most of the course keying off familiar foes from Cass, Cambridge, River Ridge, and Kell.
At the first mile in just over five minutes, he was in 19th place and close behind his region foe from Cass. Entering the third (and final) mile, McDaniel was in 21st place; however, he approached the hills for the last time, embraced the energy from the large contingent of Raider fans, and started closing the gap. With the last half mile to go, he had already moved up to 17th place and was only 20 yards behind the next runner. With 400 meters remaining, McDaniel passed a Flowery Branch runner; they traded places once more on the downhill stretch. At the finish line, McDaniel powered ahead of a River Ridge runner to claim the 16th spot.
Competitive notes:
- The River Ridge runner finished 17th; at the Region meet, he beat McDaniel by 25 seconds.
- Region 7-AAAAA had three individual runners at State (not attached to a team running)
- All the runners McDaniel beat for the first time at Region, he beat again at State.
- McDaniel bested two runners at State that he had not beat this year.
- McDaniel's 17:07 was four seconds faster than Westminster's top runner (who beat McDaniel by only four seconds earlier this year). While Westminster ran in a different classification, the time comparison is a fine measuring stick.
- McDaniel finished 53 seconds behind the Class AAAAA State champion, which was 18 seconds closer than he was from him at Region.
