WAYNESBORO, Pa. – Waynesboro Area Senior High School sophomore Morgan Jones is going places – 3.1 miles at a time.
After a highly successful cross country regular season, Jones kicked it into high gear. She finished fourth at the Mid-Penn Conference championship meet.
Jones then placed 17th in the District 3 Class 3A championship at Big Spring High School in 19:14.58, qualifying her for the PIAA Class 3A championship Saturday, Nov. 7. She was the top sophomore finisher in a field of 255 runners.
Her second season as a Maidens harrier will come almost full circle when she returns to Big Spring for the state meet, giving her a second straight week of competition on the same course. The Class 3A girls race is scheduled for 11 a.m.
Jones has made steady progress during her first two high school seasons. She medaled at the Mid-Penn championship as a freshman before adding medals at both the conference and district meets this fall.
“I think she’s mentally ready. She basically knows the course, and she has a goal to finish in under 19 minutes,” said Waynesboro coach Jen Atkinson, who has devoted 36 years to the Waynesboro cross country program. “She looked strong at the district meet. She knew she had to get out there with some of the front girls and she did that. She knows what she has to do and she doesn’t make any excuses.”
It hasn’t taken a lot of time at all for Jones to go from fledgling runner to someone who is about to compete at the highest level in the state.
Jones said she joined the winter running club when she was in sixth grade.
“I’ve been in cross country ever since,” Jones said. “I don’t think there’s a ton of pressure. Hopefully, I’ll have one more personal record.”
Having raced at Big Spring just a week earlier, Jones knows what challenges await her Saturday.
“It has a lot of rolling hills,” Jones said of the Big Spring course. “There’s one big hill, they call it ‘kill hill.’ My goal is to break 19 minutes and try to make the top 50.”
