Marietta’s Indians and Lady Indians competed in the Oklahoma Runner Classic on Saturday, September 19 in Norman. The Classic fields elite cross country programs from across the state. Many are 5A and 6A schools, with a few smaller schools with traditionally high-performing CX teams thrown into the mix.
Because of the pandemic, the Classic changed formats this year, dividing the racers into pods and running several smaller races throughout the day, as opposed to two races for all the runners. This style of racing permitted runners to space out – a form of socially distanced running.
Marietta’s 3A Lady Indians placed third in the 3A-4A meet with a team time just four seconds behind the winning 4A Plainview Lady Indians.
Marietta had four runners in the top 25: Madison Lemons in 14th place in 13:22.22; Tanasia Randle in 15th place in 13:27.62; Vanessa Rodriguez in 18th place in 13:32.30; and Sophie Love in 21st place in 13:37.32. The girls’ 3A-4A race fielded a total of 99 runners.
The Indians finished the race in seventh place with a team time just 5.5 seconds behind winner Community Christian School.
Of the 104 registered runners on the boy’s side, Wyatt Vinson was the only Indian in the top 25 runners, in 14th place with a time of 18:08.73.