Loyd Star senior Gauge Montgomery did what he set out to accomplish on Thursday by going back-to-back.

Montgomery was nearly a minute better than the second placed finisher from St. Andrew’s Episcopal, winning his second straight MHSAA 2A cross-country state championship with a time of 17 minutes and 12 seconds on the 5K course at Choctaw Trails in south Jackson. Freshman Jackson Jumper of SAE was second in 18:01.

As a team, the Hornets and coach Rusty Newman finished third overall behind the champs from St. Andrew’s and East Union in a field of 12 schools and 84 total runners.

“Proud of Gauge for taking care of business with the title on the line,” said Newman. “The previous two races have been nail biters between him and runners from St. Andrew’s, but Thursday he never even gave them a chance.”

Montgomery burst onto the scene as a sophomore, finishing second overall at the state meet after falling in love with the sport during his first season of competition.

Last season, he juggled a job and spent extra time training on a treadmill at home to make the leap to state champion.

On Thursday, he used the familiar course at Choctaw Trails for a victory lap that capped his high school career with a second first-place medal. He plans to run next on the collegiate level at Blue Mountain State.  

Next across the finish line in 19:28 was Loyd Star freshman Carson Sellers in 11th place. West Lincoln senior Hayden Skates finished 12th in 19:38.

Freshman Brooklyn Lee finished 15th overall for Loyd Star with a 20:03. West Lincoln freshman Jacob Jones was the 31st placed finisher with a time of 21:39. Junior Kaelin Clark was the next Hornet across the line at 22:20. Eighth grader Memphis Falvey ran the race in 24:04 for LS.

Freshman Bordy Leggett ran a time of 23:33 for West Lincoln coach Jay Case. Eighth grader Corbin Stewart finished 23:37 for the Bears while eighth grader Landon Fulton finished in 24:05, and eighth grader Alex Horn had a time of 25:23 for West Lincoln. The Bears finished seventh overall as a team.