CONTINUING TO IMPROVE: Dylan Thompson and Johnny Bradshaw showed consistent improvement at the Tift Invitational this past weekend.

TIFTON – Thomas County Central’s girls cross country team experienced a ‘downer’ at Saturday’s Tift Invitational in Tifton, Georgia, while the boys team continued to improve.

Racing without star Cadence Curnalia, Central’s girls team finished 11th out of 18 teams, while the boys placed 10th out of 21 teams.

“The boys I thought did really well. They all had pretty good consistent times, and they finished about where we thought they were going to, time wise,” Central head coach Rosalie Wilson said. “I was proud of them.”

Curnalia, which was a week removed from winning the Cook Hornet Invitational with a sub-20 minute time, had to quit early in the race with tightness in her hip, said Wilson.

“I think she had that before in middle school. She was obviously struggling a little bit in her run. I think she made a very good choice to step off,” Wilson said. “That was upsetting for the girls and for her, so they were a little bummed by that.

“There was a little bit of a downer with Cadence.”

Central’s runners of the meet awards were presented to Stella Ward and Brook Bone.

Central will race again this Saturday, Oct. 7, at the Westover Invitational in Albany, Georgia.