Gibson leads Jackson senior boys to victory

JACKSON — Senior Greg Gibson's attempt at four consecutive individual victories at the Jackson Invitational was denied Saturday by a junior of all people.

The invitational consists of four different boys races — the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior class races. Because runners compete against others in their same academic grade, it might seem strange that Gibson went against Travis Blalock, a Poplar Bluff junior.

But runners are allowed to race in a higher class if they choose to do so. And Blalock did.

Gibson won the freshman race as a ninth-grader, the sophomore race as a 10th-grader and the junior race as an 11th-grader. But he had to settle for second place this fall as he was unable to beat Blalock, who crossed the finish line just ahead of Gibson with a time of 12 minutes, 29 seconds.

Gibson also finished in 12:29. Notre Dame senior Logan Davis came in third (12:38).

"I've won three years in a row, lost this one, but he beat me fair and square," Gibson said of Blalock. "He just had more kick today. He's run the senior race all three times, and apparently it has paid off for him."

Gibson helped the Jackson boys win the senior team title with 36 points. They were followed by the Notre Dame senior boys, who finished with 40 points. It was the third consecutive year Gibson helped his class win its race.

Gibson said he was nervous before the race, partly because it was the last competition of his high school career on his home course. The school typically hosts the Class 4 District 1 meet, but will not this year. Every other Indians meet takes place on the road this fall.

"This is it, unfortunately," Gibson said. "It would have been nice to win, and it would have been nice to be back here for districts. But, yeah, it was a nice experience."

Gibson also is a member of the Indians swim program and has been swimming since he was 6 years old. He began running in eighth grade after his mother urged him to go out for the track and field team to get in shape for baseball. Gibson learned running was his passion and stopped playing baseball in favor of high school cross country and track.

"Most people hate to run, but I get out on the road and that's my time to feel good," Gibson said. "It's my time to work stuff over. I love to run."

Gibson hopes this final year will be a successful one, and that it will include a team trip to the Class 4 state meet. He is looking forward to a successful season, especially because he experienced an extremely difficult season last year.

He tore his left oblique muscle after winning last year's Jackson Invitational and competing in two other meets. He sat out a few meets then attempted to run, but the injury only worsened. That was the end of his cross country season.

He remained inactive until January. The injury recurred during the first week of track and field last spring, sidelining him for seven weeks.

"I've got a long way to go still," Gibson said. "It's still going to take a lot of training. I tried to do a lot of miles, but at the same time, I didn't try to make it work. After all that injury, it started to feel like it was a job. So I really had to make sure I was having fun. If I didn't feel like going out, I wouldn't."

Jackson coach Andrea Talley said Gibson's time Saturday was about what she expected. She said Gibson should be happy with his performance.

"The Poplar Bluff runner is up to a lot higher mileage," Talley said. "I know the Blalock kid has had uninterrupted training, whereas Greg has been injured. ... Greg, we've kind of held him back just so he won't get hurt. ... Once Greg is gradually able to up his mileage and hopefully not overtrain, and stay healthy, then I think by the end of the season I think he'll be up with Blalock."

Talley said because of injuries not only to Gibson, but also to other members of her team, Jackson might be running the lowest mileage of any local team. Gibson has been in the middle to high 30s for miles each week, and she would be happy for him to run near 45 miles as the season progresses.

"[Gibson] is really important," said Jackson's Tori Parry, who finished the sophomore girls race second (15:13). "He's a really strong leader. He always encourages us and he's really good for the team."

Gibson said he would like to run in college, and has looked at Purdue, Kansas and Missouri. But as of now, his focus is on this fall.

"We've always been an underclassman team since I've been here," Gibson said. "For the first time, we've got six seniors — all fairly healthy. So I can see us going all the way to state and possibly doing well at state. We've got our work cut out for us."