Written by David Dawson, Rome News-Tribune Sports Editor
It seems safe to say that the Darlington cross country program is destined to be a dynasty in Region 6-A. The Tigers and Lady Tigers, both of whom feature young rosters, offered a glimpse of the future Thursday when they each delivered utterly dominating performances while winning
Region 6-A titles at Dellinger Park in Cartersville.
The Lady Tigers, featuring five underclassmen among their seven runners, stormed to the championship in overwhelming fashion by registering a perfect score. Freshman Ansley McDurmon won the individual title with a time of 21 minutes and 17 seconds, and four of her teammates followed directly behind her — finishing No. 2 through 5 — to give Darlington the perfect team total of 15.
It was the Lady Tigers’ third consecutive region title, but their first as a member of 6-A. (Darlington was a member of 7-AA for several seasons before being reclassified this past summer).
“After winning two straight in 7-AA, we figured we might as well go ahead and win one in 6-A, too,” said McDurmon with a big smile. “This was a great race for our team.”
The Darlington boys, led by Eric Wetherington’s second-place finish, completed the sweep by sailing to an easy victory in the boys’ meet, placing seven runners among the top-9 finishers.
“We had a very clear goal coming into this meet, and the guys did a good job of meeting it,” said Darlington coach Alan Parish. “We would have liked to have had an individual title (Bremen’s Sam Caldwell won the race), but overall, we are very pleased.”
Although the meet had a small field — with just three full teams competing in each race — the Tigers and Lady Tigers still had plenty of motivation: They were vying for a berth in next weekend’s Class A state meet in Carrollton. And both Darlington teams earned their ticket in dominating style.
“This was the smallest meet we’ve been in all year,” said Parish, “but I reminded our teams that this is the first meet we’ve had that really means something. And certainly, it’s exciting to win a region championship.”
In the girl’s race, McDurmon, who has been Darlington’s No. 1 girl throughout the season, seemed oblivious to both the chilly temperatures and the pressure of competing in her first-ever region meet. She led from start to finish. But was she satisfied with her performance? Only partially.
“It wasn’t my best race, and I definitely didn’t set a new P.R. (personal record),” she said, “but still, I can’t say I’m upset (after) winning a region title.”
McDurmon was followed by fellow freshman Lindsay Evans (21:38) in second place and sophomore Anna Shea (21:52) in third. Junior Caroline Behr (21:58) was fourth, and Margaret Hjort (22:17) was fifth. Senior Anna Fox (23:47) finished seventh, and Kaitlyn Riley (26:26) was 13th.
“We came into today’s race with a very specific plan, and the girls followed it perfectly,” said Parish.
In the boys’ race, Bremen’s Caldwell took the win with an impressive time of 17:23. Darlington was paced by Wetherington, who finished second at 18:01. He was followed by freshman Jesse Baker (18:03) in third, and freshman Cam Collins (19:01) in fifth. Sophomore Owen Greeson (19:02) was sixth, sophomore Alex Pickle (19:06) was seventh, junior Benjamin Womble (19:12) was eighth and senior Matthew Glover (19:16) was ninth.
Now, both Darlington teams turn their attention to bigger things.
“Our goal all season long — since we were at camp in July — was to be among the Top-4 at state,” said Parish. “And I believe this team is very capable of doing it.”
