MHS hosts cross country event

The Marianna Bulldogs hosted the 20th Annual Panhandle Cross County Championship Oct. 24 in Marianna.

The Bulldogs’ varsity boys team finished 18th out of 25 teams, while the Marianna girls came in 17th out of 20 teams.

The event was a 5k run that featured 30 schools and 700 total runners competing, including the open run that allowed runners unaffiliated with schools to compete.

Marianna coach Allan Gibson said he was very happy with how the event came off.

“It was probably the smoothest race we’ve put on yet,” the coach said. “Everyone was complimentary of it, and there was no hitch at all.

“It was the biggest race we’ve ever had, and it was also the smoothest race. Everyone just worked well together, and there were hardly any issues at all. It made Marianna look good to the people from the Panhandle that came in to participate.”

The course started and ended at Bulldogs Stadium, with schools from Jacksonville to Pensacola competing.

Marianna was the only Jackson County team in the event.

The Bulldogs team is comprised of 15 boys and five girls.

Joseph Gibson finished with the best time for the Bulldogs varsity boys at 18:31.83.

Zack Brockner (19:28.32) and Jesse McGowan (19:30.22) had the next best times for Marianna.

Samantha Arroyo had the top time for the Marianna girls, finishing at 22:17.12.

Gibson said he was happy with the performances of his team.

“A lot of them set personal records and season bests,” the coach said. “We were happy with the results. We still have a little further to go.”

The Bulldogs are trying to qualify to go to the regionals, but to do that they’ll have to finish in the top six in their district.

Currently, Marianna sits just on the edge of that spot, in seventh place.

“We took some steps toward that (at the Panhandle Championship),” the coach said. “We’re a little closer. We’ve got a young team and we’re getting better.”

Marianna has another race today in Maclay before the district race Nov. 7 at Appalachicola Regional Park.

Pensacola Catholic is first in the district standings, but the Bulldogs are in competition with Florida High, Wakulla and South Walton for the sixth spot in the league.

The Bulldogs can take a much bigger step towards that goal in today’s meet, which pits them against Florida High in a head to head matchup.