Columbus’ Salgado, Northside’s Forbes finish first at cross country meet
For Columbus senior Alex Salgado, it wasn’t enough to just set a blistering pace at Thursday’s Muscogee County School District track meet.
Salgado finished over two minutes ahead of the competition in the first of two varsity races with a time of 17:08.79, but once he crossed the finish line, Salgado was not done. He quickly regrouped and walked down the track, where he started cheering on his teammates as they finished their runs.
Salgado said encouraging the other Blue Devils immediately after running 3.1 miles was the right thing to do.
“I just remember when I was younger in seventh grade,” Salgado said. “I would run really slowly, and there were people who should have actually gone home by then still cheering. I think it’s my responsibility to pass it on.”
Salgado had plenty to cheer for as he watched his fellow Blue Devils and Lady Blue Devils go the distance. Columbus runners took four of the top five positions, which Salgado hopes is a sign of even bigger things to come.
“It shows we have some promise for this year, but we will have to work a lot harder if we’re going to have the same type of results at state,” Salgado said.
The second race of the evening, meanwhile, featured a first-time winner. Northside junior Jack Forbes came across the line first, clocking in at 18:43.17.
Forbes made the most of the muggy Muscogee County afternoon, picking up a victory that he hopes fuels his team going forward.
“It feels great,” Forbes said. “We didn’t think we would start off with a win, and I got it. I’m really happy. This was my best race.”
Race A - Top 5 Boys
1. Alex Salgado (Columbus) - 17:08.79; 2. Andrew White (Columbus) - 19:19.10; 3. Demarcus Boulware (Jordan) - 19:38.64; 4. Keshawn White (Columbus) - 19:39.73; 5. Michael Williams (Columbus) - 20:44.16
Race A - Top 5 Girls
1. Heaven Allen (Columbus) - 22.30.11; 2. Tori Abeyta (Columbus) - 23:49.66; 3. Hannah Mishkoff (Columbus) - 24:21.14; 4. Kylie Davenport (Columbus) - 24:43.51; 5. Emma Slavens - 25:11.69
Race B - Top 5 Boys
1. Jack Forbes (Northside) - 18:43.20; 2. Caleb Pattillo (Brookstone) - 19:20.32; 3. Briggs Kalish (Brookstone) - 19:35.82; 4. Ben Thompson (Northside) - 19:48.06; 5. Ryan Drew (Brookstone) - 20:24.89
Race B - Top 5 Girls
1. Alyssa Anderson (Northside) - 23:20.29; 2. Journey Robbins (Kendrick) - 25:07.35; 3. Lucy Gray (Northside) - 25:13.74; 4. Kyla Bellinski (Northside) - 25:26.63; 5. Romie Ingram (Northside) - 25:31.46
This story was originally published September 14, 2017 at 9:42 PM with the headline "Columbus’ Salgado, Northside’s Forbes finish first at cross country meet."