Arnold, Mosley take top honors at county XC meet

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Mikayla Hodges stayed on her feet this time.

The Arnold sophomore ran away with the girls individual Bay County cross country championship at Frank Brown Park on Saturday. Her efforts couldn’t help Arnold surpass Mosley for the team title, but she atoned for a mistake she made last year as a freshman.

Hodges slipped and fell in the early going in the meet held at Harders Park, enabling Mosley’s Sydney Newsom to cruise to the crown. There was no telling then if Newsome would have ultimately came out on top even with a clean run, but Hodges had the fall in the back of her mind on Saturday.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live it down,” Hodges said after winning in a time of 21 minutes, 8 seconds. “I just was thinking ‘don’t trip and I’ll be fine.’”

She was more than fine, save a few struggles in sandy portions of the course. Mosley’s Courtney Muller finished second more than a minute behind at 22:25. Hodges admitted being considered the favorite added pressure, but her nerves didn’t last long.

“Just knowing everyone wants to beat you is nerve racking,” Hodges said. “But it’s also motivation to win.”

Hodges’ male counterparts also were equally dominant.

Arnold won the boys crown with 24 points on finishes of second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh by Challen Hyman, Chance Mason, Jayme Atkins, Blake Ogden and Mason Armstrong. Hyman lost out on a sprint to the finish against Mosley’s Michael Kiefer, who became the first Dolphin boy to win an individual title in Erin Morris’ six years as coach.

The battle for the boys solo title was close coming in, but Kiefer knew he wasn’t considered the favorite. Hyman and Mason had been close all season and looked to be the top contenders.

Kiefer said he wanted to stay with the pack and wait for an opening. It came in the final yards of the race, as he broke free from Hyman and pushed through to the victory in 17:11. Hyman finished in 17:14.

“I started sprinting and knew I had it when he was a good 10 or 15 yards behind me,” said Kiefer, who fought through injuries last season. “When you’re not expected to win it’s always a challenge to do better.”

Mosley’s girls also found themselves in the underdog role competing against an Arnold team on its home course. Like Kiefer, the Dolphins pushed through to edge Arnold 40-46. It was only the second time Mosley defeated Arnold in a meet this season.

Courtney Muller was second behind Hodges in 22:25. Mosley also posted finishes of fourth, seventh, 13th and 14th from Lessie Skiba, Ashtin Noyes, Stormie Banks and Carly Cottingham. It was Mosley’s third consecutive county championship and Morris said the team asked for harder workouts to prepare for the victory.

Muller was emblematic of Mosley’s hard work and improvement. She was running nearly 14 minutes slower as a freshman last season. Noyes, a former Bay County champion at Bozeman as a sixth-grader, also improved from a spot on the JV last season to a varsity contributor in 2010.

The county teams next compete in district meets. Arnold, Bay and Rutherford are in Marianna for the District 1-2A event and Mosley at the 1-3A meet in Pace, with both on Saturday.