The Paris cross country team finished its fifth season on Saturday. 

Every season has ended at state as Paris had seven girls run as a team on Saturday at the Class 1 meet at Gans Creek in Columbia and Case Morgan represented the boys for the second straight year. The sophomore Morgan was 36th with a time of 17:25.3, and the sophomore Edie Wormington led the girls in her second state appearance with a time of 21:25.9. 

Head coach Doug Buie said they all “met or exceeded” expectations as three runners ran personal-best times, and senior Ava Crain had a season-best. Buie said the program has exceeded expectations in its first five years because the boys and girls have won the Lewis and Clark Conference three straight years, and the boys and girls each have sent three teams to state. He said, of the 33 runners Paris has had in five years, there have been 29 all-conference, 28 all-district and seven all-state.

Paris State Cross Country Photo Gallery

“Every year, they just absolutely exceed expectations,” Buie said. “You bring these great kids with you, great things happen.”

The girls were the district runner-up this season and have two district titles and a state trophy in their brief history. The Lady Coyotes were ninth out of 15 schools with 218 points on Saturday. Ava Crain was 80th with a time of 22:43.5, Midori Williams was 94th with a time of 23:06.6, Elizabeth Ross was 100th with a time of 23:15.0, Mareiya Williams was 103rd with a time of 23:21.9, Hadley Dodge was 105th with a time of 23:23.3, and Mia Kendrick was 132nd with a time of 24:57.9. 

Wormington was about one second behind her personal-best district time, which wouldn’t have made it on the podium this year and beat the 30th-place mark of 21:08. Buie said the times have gotten faster over the last few years, but Wormington has improved so much since she was little.

“Van-Far was an extremely flat course, so to match that at this course is a great thing,” Buie said. “She’s worked her tail off this year and continues to exceed expectations. Edie has been running for me with youth, junior high and high school since she was five years old.”

Buie said he expects either Wormington or her fellow sophomore Ross, who ran in her second state meet, to break the school record next year. He then said freshman Marieya Williams could then break their school record. 

There are lofty expectations for the girls, and the same is true for Morgan. About 12 hours after he played football in the district semifinals at Knox County, Morgan ran his personal-best time. Morgan has two state medals in track from the 800 and 4x800 that he has from freshman year, and Buie believes a cross country medal isn’t far behind.

“He was able to come out here and do his thing,” Buie said. “He has been amazing. You’ve got a kid who can run a 1:59 800 (at state track) as a freshman. He can come out of nowhere and catch a lot of people.”

Buie said it is also exciting that five of the seven girls who ran Saturday are coming back next year and that most of the boys team will be back next year, too. He appreciates the contributions of the seniors Crain and Midori Williams, who were on the school’s first state trophy team four years ago, and know it’s on to track.

“We’re going to get a break, and they all start getting ready for track,” Buie said.