Trinity Middle School Cross Country TeamS Win Big

By Samantha DePriest

Trinity Middle School Cross Country playoff results are in from this past weekend at the GAPPS State Meet in Fayetteville on October 8th and we couldn’t be more excited about it. Our Middle School boys team put in an outstanding effort and won State Runner-up! We are so proud of our Lions!! And for the 1st time ever in Trinity history our Middle School Girls Cross Country team won the State title!! Way to go Lady Lions!!

It takes a special kind of student athlete with a very supportive family to compete in Cross Country. It is for those strong, determined, and fierce competitors who don’t mind waking up at 4:30am in the morning to drive across town to run on uneven ground, through puddles and rocks, up and down hills in extreme temperatures. It is both humbling and encouraging at the same time. It is for those detail oriented students who pay close attention to their diet, hydration, sleep, and every minute and second of their practice runs and race times. It makes for blisters, rolled ankles, sore knees, and more. It means pre-race pasta parties and post race chocolate milks. It is for parents who love to chase their kiddos around a race course to cheer them at every opening on as they push themselves to achieve their personal goals for the better of their team. And it takes a very special Coach to student athlete relationship to motivate teenagers to wake up early and run, run, run. Coach Ryan Tipton has served as our Head Coach for Varsity/JV/Middle School Cross Country at Trinity for 9 years. He also serves as our 8th grade Bible Teacher and Director of Middle School Aftercare. Coach Tipton and his wife Cindy have 6 precious children and he is used to chasing kiddos around. “We are so thankful to Coach Tipton for his leadership of this team and the Cross Country program as a whole at TCS,” shared Cross Country parent Rachel Jaroszewski.

Cross Country Mom Barkley Franklin shared “Cross Country is one of my favorite sports to watch. While it’s a team sport, it’s also individual. They are running as a team, but they are also running to improve their personal time. This year has been really fun to watch. Not only are the races exciting, but it’s overall just a great group of kids. They work hard and they truly care how their teammates compete. When they aren’t running their race, they are always cheering for their teammates.”

Our Middle School teams traveled to Cochran on Saturday, October 15th to participate in the Georgia Middle School State Championships to test their mettle against all GHSA private schools in Cochran. TCS Assistant Cross Country Coach Dawn Olson shared “I am very proud of them for how hard they’ve worked all Fall. I’m also very impressed at their already very obvious leadership skills and ability to work well together as a team.”

The Trinity Middle School Girls team beat Stratford Academy by 1 point and secured 1st place in the State Championships yesterday. The Trinity Middle School Boys team beat Landmark Christian by 48 points and earned 1st place in the State Championships. Way to represent Trinity Cross Country! We can’t wait to see what God has next in store for this incredible group of student athletes!!

Middle School Girls Team

Grace Anderson, Braylan Caruthers, Mackenzie Clark, Taylor Clark, Aubrey Franklin, Ellie Jerger, Emma Margo, Adeline New, Julia Olson, Lucy Reichenbach, Avery Ross, Molly Tarpley, Tarik Ripton, and Anna Underwood

Middle School Boys Team

Hayden Armstrong, Andrew Billings, Jesse Griffin, Brandon Jaroszewski, Lukę Lanier, Chase Magro, Shepard Mullins, Logan Parker, Graham Reichenbach, Lucas Sprague, Tate Strealy, Brody West, and Henry Wilson