A year ago, at Choctaw Trails in south Jackson, Gauge Montgomery of Loyd Star finished second overall at the MHSAA 2A Cross-Country Championship.

A fire was lit under Montgomery that day as he made the decision to start working immediately in order to move up one spot in 2023.

On Thursday, Montgomery saw his year’s worth of work pay off as he ran the 5K course in 17 minutes, nine seconds to capture first place in the 2023 2A state championship meet.

A junior, Montgomery beat Payden Taylor of New Site who finished in a time of 17:15. William Skelton of St. Andrew’s was the third place finisher at 17:21.

Last week, Montgomery ran a then personal best time of 17:20 to finish first at the regional level for Loyd Star coach Russell Cruse.

Pick up the weekend edition of The Daily Leader for more on Montgomery’s state championship win and additional results from local runners competing at the state meets.