Elizabeth Funderburk

MOULTRIE – No kidding. It was just Elizabeth and the clown all the way to the finish line.

On Saturday, Colquitt County High cross country junior Elizabeth Funderburk defied the usual logic of her sport, shot out ahead of the pack from the beginning, and won Saturday’s Lee County Invitational girls 5K by nearly two whole minutes. This was a record-setting performance – Funderburk’s own personal record – of 18:33.42. Coming in second was Alli Hay, a senior from the Pataula Charter Academy, in 20:23.

“My goal was to be around my average six-minute pace,” said Funderburk on Monday. “I think it averaged out to 5:59, so I’m happy about that.

“I was kind of expecting (to be way ahead of the pack). Distance running isn’t a big thing around here. I pretty much took off at the beginning. There was a clown on a bike in front of me, so that helped. He was the pace setter. I was just trying to catch him the whole time.”

The course itself was flat, adding to Funderburk’s expectations for a good run.

Funderburk and her fellow cross country runners finally got the 2016 season  started in Lee. The weekend before the Packers were scheduled to run in Tallahassee, Fla., at the Big Bend. However, as Hurricane Hermine hit landfall in that area on the Thursday before, the city itself called off the competition.

So it can officially be said that Funderburk’s comeback began. She said she’s feeling healthy after the hip plexor that hindered her running as a sophomore.

“I’ve done everything I could leading up to this season to make sure everything’s healthy,” said Funderburk. “I’m going to try to break (my personal record) every week. Usually, in races I tend to get slower. I’ll start out fast and get slower. So I’m trying to work on keeping a consistent pace throughout the race.”

The next Colquitt County cross country event is this weekend at the Bainbridge Bearcat Invitational. The Packers did not run there last season, but did in Funderburk’s freshman year.

“It might a little bit more difficult,” she said. “I remember at least one hill that was pretty steep. But I think I have a chance to get faster.”

At Lee County, Southland Academy of the GISA won the team title with 67 points. Tift County, in the Colquitt area, was the top team from the GHSA with 88, four better than Lee. Colquitt placed sixth, one point ahead of Worth County and two ahead of Valdosta.

Danielle Brown, sophomore, ran 25:18.61; Alaina Taylor, sophomore, ran 26:40.14; Jennifer Castillo, junior, ran 26:59.79; and Tiffany Carruthers, senior, ran 27.34.82.

Jake Merritt of Colquitt County’s boys cross country team placed eighth in the Lee Invitational, the junior turning in a time of 18:20.2. Kaleb Wolfenden of Lowndes was the winner in 16:21.5 and Colby Jones of Lee was second at 17:46.6. Valdosta had the winning team over Lowndes, 63 to 74. The Packers were 14th in boys.

Savonte Wilson, senior, ran 22:05; Mitchell Riley, sophomore, ran 22:14.6, and Collin Daniels, sophomore, ran 22:26.