Pictured above is Oak Ridge senior Jose Villegas, who finished second in the boys 5,000-meter cross country race in the Region 2 Large Division Championships at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. (Photo by Maddie Zawisza)
The Oak Ridge boys and girls cross country teams have both qualified for the state meet in Nashville on Saturday, and the Wildcats had one runner finish second in the region and another finish fourth on Thursday. It’s the first time since 2014 that both teams are going to state together.
Here are photos from the regional meet on Thursday by Wallace Bowden and Maddie Zawisza along with Oak Ridge Today file photos.
This file photo shows Genevieve Schwartz of Oak Ridge, right, in the Region 2-AAA girls’ cross country race at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. Behind Schwartz is Jenna Wall of Hardin Valley Academy. Schwartz finished fourth in the Region 2 Large Division championship meet this year, on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge boys cross country team finished third in the Region 2 Large Division Championships at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. The boys qualified for the state meet in Nashville on Saturday, Nov. 4. (Photo by Maddie Zawisza)
The Oak Ridge girls cross country team finished third in the Region 2 Large Division Championships at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. The girls qualified for the state meet in Nashville on Saturday, Nov. 4. (Photo by Wallace Bowden)
Oak Ridge senior Genevieve Schwartz finished fourth in the Region 2 Large Division girls cross country championship meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge High School Cross Country)
Pictured above is Oak Ridge junior Dalton Morgan, who finished sixth in the boys 5,000-meter cross country race in the Region 2 Large Division Championships at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. (Photo by Maddie Zawisza)
The Oak Ridge boys cross country team carries Coach Ed Wright, who took a swim in the pond at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017, after the Wildcats’ boys and girls cross country teams both qualified for the state meet in Nashville on Saturday, Nov. 4. The swim is a tradition when both teams win the regional meet, and it was amended this year “just so I would take a swim,” Wright said, after the boys and girls teams both finished third and qualified together for state for the first time since 2014, in the Region 2 Large Division Championships at Victor Ashe Park on Thursday. (Photo by Maddie Zawisza)
Pictured above is Oak Ridge freshman Eli Cox, who finished 39th in the boys 5,000-meter cross country race in the Region 2 Large Division Championships at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. (Photo by Maddie Zawisza)
This file photo from the Region 2-AAA meet on Oct. 27, 2016, shows Oak Ridge runners Maddie Zawisza, left front, who has since graduated; Robyn Wood, center front, who is a senior captain now; and sophomore Jessie Strader, right, who finished 16th in this year’s Region 2 Large Division girls cross country championship meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
This file photo from May 25, 2017, shows Rebekah Joyal, who was then a freshman and is now a sophomore, competing in the 4×800 meter relay at MTSU in Murfreesboro. Joyal finished 18th in the Region 2 Large Division girls cross country championship meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. (File photo by Kindell Moore)
This file photo from Oct. 27, 2016, shows Reid Dukes of Oak Ridge, right, who was then a junior and is now a senior, in the Region 2-AAA boys’ cross country meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville. Dukes finished 11th in this year’s Region 2 Large Division boys cross country championship. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Pictured above is Oak Ridge junior Kyle Wright in the boys 5,000-meter cross country race in the Region 2 Large Division Championships at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. Wright will be an alternate in the state meet in Nashville on Saturday, Nov. 4. (Photo by Maddie Zawisza)
Oak Ridge senior captain Robyn Wood, who will be an alternate in the girls state cross country meet in Nashville on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, is pictured above with assistant coach Tom Sauer at the Region 2 Large Division championship meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge High School Cross Country/Robyn Wood)
The Oak Ridge cross country coaches are pictured above at the Region 2 Large Division championship meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. Head Coach Ed Wright is at center with assistant coaches Tom Sauer, left, and Allen Etheridge. (Photo by Maddie Zawisza)
Pictured above is Oak Ridge senior Daeton Byars, who finished 24th in the boys 5,000-meter cross country race in the Region 2 Large Division Championships at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. (Photo by Maddie Zawisza)
Eden Gee, second from left, who is now a sophomore, is pictured above in this file photo of members of last year’s cross country team in Nashville on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016. Gee finished 20th in this year’s Region 2 Large Division girls cross country championship meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. Also pictured above are, at left, Ruthie Froning and, moving right from Gee, Maddie Zawisza, Genevieve Schwartz, Jessie Strader, Robyn Wood, and Bailey Baldwin. (File photo courtesy Allen Etheridge)
Pictured above is Oak Ridge senior Will Jeter, who finished 43rd in the boys 5,000-meter cross country race in the Region 2 Large Division Championships at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. (Photo by Maddie Zawisza)
Oak Ridge senior Jose Villegas, at right in background, finished second in the boys 5,000-meter cross country race in the Region 2 Large Division Championships at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. Villegas finished about six seconds behind Jake Renfree of Knoxville Catholic, left foreground. (Photo by Wallace Bowden)
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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