Eagles Devon Dunigan Earns Spot At Nationals
October 2018
Clarksville, TN — The Rhea Middle Running Eagles ran in the TMSSA State Championship Meet on October 6th, 2018 held in Clarksville, Tennessee. The top runners from teams across the state competed for their place in the championship!
Running for the Lady Eagles included Anastasia Holcomb, a steady 8th grade leader from Dayton City School. Anastasia capped her last two mile race of her middle school career with a time of 16:26 and earned 66th place out of 104 competitors. Kylee Swearingen, a promising 6th grader of Rhea Middle, nipped at her teammate’s heels with a time of 16:47, 73rd place. The girls team will look to her for leadership in the future. Both girls qualified to run in the State Meet by placing 8th (Holcomb) and 10th (Swearingen) in the Sectional Meet last Saturday.
The biggest standout of the day was Devon Dunigan’s 17th place finish with a time of 12:40. Devon’s goal was to place top 20, which qualifies him to compete in the National’s race. He turned it on at the end of the race, passing two runners to ensure his spot at 17. He looks forward to competing at a higher level, and will be seen in high school action. His teammate, Elijah Hall, also ran a great race on the hilly course. His time placed him among the top 40 in the state. The leadership and competitiveness from the two will be greatly missed.
The entire Rhea Middle boy’s varsity team qualified for state by placing 3rd in the Sectional Meet, and had an impressive showing at the State Championship. For many of them, this was their first time competing at this level. Running for the Eagles included 8th grade leader and standout, Devon Dunigan (RMS). He was trailed by Elijah Hall (8, Homeschool), David Schaeffer (8, RMS), Alvin Bishop (7, DCS), Jackson Myers (8, RMS), Ryan Sullivan (8, RMS) and Bryley Young (8, RMS). The team finished in 12th place with all runners in the top 100. The team will look to Alvin Bishop to lead next year’s team with the help of Avery Dunigan, who came to the State Meet as an alternate.
Article by Madalyn Newby
2018 Rhea Middle Cross Country Roster:
| Name | Grade | School |
| Boys | ||
| Devon Dunigan | 8th | RMS |
| Elijah Hall | 8th | Homeschool |
| Jackson Myers | 8th | RMS |
| David Schaeffer | 8th | RMS |
| Eli Doran | 8th | DCS |
| Alvin Bishop | 7th | DCS |
| Bryley Young | 8th | RMS |
| Thompson Heald | 7th | RMS |
| Caleb Willin | 6th | RMS |
| Judah Hall | 6th | RMS |
| Avery Dunigan | 6th | RMS |
| Taylor Willin | 8th | RMS |
| Girls | ||
| Anastasia Holcomb | 8th | DCS |
| Kylee Swearingen | 6th | RMS |
| Marissa Coulter | 6th | RMS |
