Harris, Braswell Epic 5K winners
Published 12:32 pm Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Chase Harris of coach Julie Harris’s Grace Christian Academy Cougars cross-country team and Paige Braswell of coach Jenny Oldaker’s Bainbridge High School Lady Cats cross-country team were the overall and female winners at Saturday’s second annual Epic 5K Run.
The 5.000-meter (3.1 mile) event at Spring Hill Christmas Tree Farm, which featured both indivivdual and team competition, annually benefits the Dylan Reid Faircloth “the First” Memorial Cross Country Scholarship.
The running field consisted of 115 individual runners and 21 teams.
Local bag piper Tom Brown played prior to the run, which was started by a chuck of one of the farm’s pumpkins.
Harris’s overall winning time was 17 minutes, 58.60 seconds and Braswell’s female winning time was 23 minutes, 23.87 seconds.
The Bainbridge team of “Catch Me If You Can” were the team champions. Team members were John Hemanes, Davey Reynolds, Derek Allen Jr., Tae Ross and Mitchell Massengill.
The scholarship is named in honor and memory of the late Dylan Faircloth, the son of June Faircloth. He was also a former member of the BHS cross-country team, lost his life in an automobile accident and was an organ donor.
Stan Gann, former Georgia Tech quarterback, former Warner Robins High School assistant football coach and former Northside-Warner Robins High School head football coach, who received Dylan’s heart, participated in the event. He and his wife, Sissy, congratulated the individual and team winners.
The Ganns, who live in Kathleen, Ga., and who also attended last year’s inaugural Epic 5K, attended Friday night’s Region 1-AAAA homecoming football game between Bainbridge and Warner Robins at Centennial Field.
“It is great to have coach Gann and his wife here again this year, and to know that Dylan’s heart and legacy live on in coach Gann,” Mrs. Faircloth said.
She also announced that an autographed baseball, sent by former Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom Glavine, would be auctioned at a later date to raise money for the scholarship fund.
Glavine, a member of the Braves Hall of Fame and an ardent transplant advocate, partners with the Georgia Transplant Foundation to raise awareness and funds for organ donation.