When the 1 p.m. gun fires to kick off the 2016 Middle School Cross Country race Saturday at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville, T.A. Dugger is going to have a great representation as there will be four girls that will take to the course first followed by five boys representing the Jr. Cyclones.

And history could possibly be made on both sides.

“We have never had anybody from our school be in the top 50 in the state,” said TAD cross country coach Janey White. “It would make school history if we had someone finish at that level. That would be really special.”

While the coach can only imagine what it would be like to finally have one of her team make history, she is also super charged about the number of competitors who made the race this year.

“I am excited because we have never had ten people make it to the state meet before, and this year we are going to have one of our biggest groups ever,” added White. “Basically, they will be racing against everyone in the state of Tennessee that qualified for this meet. To qualify, you had to be in the top 25 individual runners in this area or on a top five team.

“We actually had people qualify as a top 25 individual. I am excited to see especially our boys—I think they can come in the top 15 in the state which is exciting.”

White also is looking for some great things from Lana Ward, one of the four young ladies who qualified. Ward is a sixth grader, but White sees a potential for Ward to land in the top 50 in the state.

Regardless of the outcome, White believes that the race will be a good stepping stone for her squad.

“There will be a lot of competition there, but it will be fun and good for this group to see good competition,” said White. “This will be the biggest meet that they have ever raced in, and it will be one of the most competitive meets that they have raced in which is good for cross country because you usually have a better race if you run against people that are going to push you.”

“We have been pushed before, but never pushed this hard by people who are this good,” continued White. “That will be our biggest challenge is to hold onto that person who is in front of us that is better than we are.”

While regular track events consist of heats, in cross country every participant lines up at the starting line and when the gun fires it’s every man (or woman) for themselves.”

The state meet Saturday will have about 300 runners in each of the girls and boys races. With that amount of competitors, it is important to be in the front from the get-go.

“It is really challenging because if you are a good runner and get stuck in the back that pretty much ruins the rest of the entire race,” White said about the importance of a good start. “I always tell my kids to go out as fast as everyone else because if they get trapped in the back there is no way that they are going to do well. It’s your only shot in cross country.”

“The kids that made it to this meet are pretty mentally tough or they would not be there,” White continued. “We work a lot on just working together as a team. Our top boys all run very close together. We talk about how number two needs to work as long as possible with number one, and number three needs to work as long as possible with number two.

“Our girls are a little more scattered out,” White added. “We just talk about doing the best you can because in cross country you really are just racing against yourself and your best times and that is a success in itself if you can beat your best times.”

The race for middle school cross country is between one and a half to two miles. The girl’s race starts at 1 p.m., and the boys follow at 1:45 p.m.