Cross Country season mourning loss

By: Chris Evans

 

            The cross country season began with sad news out of Oklahoma City with Putnam City West’s senior cross country and track runner Phillip Jones drowned Wednesday in the North Canadian River below the Lake Overholser dam.

 

            Jones and his PC West teammates were running in preparation for the upcoming  season when they came upon a part of the trail that was said to be 8 inches deep in water. Teammates had said that they had gone through the water trail safely, but Jones found some deeper water and sank. His teammates were unable to hold onto him.

 

            “It was a tragic thing. My heart goes out to that school, kids, and that coach too,” Guthrie cross country head coach Clay Tarter said.

 

            Tarter says that Coach Longstreth and he are always talking about safety when their runners are out running in public. Tarter can be found on his bicycle while Longsteth rides along in his car when the runners go out.

 

            “Coach Longstreth and I try to be out with the kids as much as we can, but you can’t watch them all because you have so many different ability levels,” Tarter said.

 

            Cross country teams in small and big towns are found running around town, around traffic, and around water just like the casual runners and walkers do. Safety has always been a concern for runners and does not go unnoticed at Guthrie.

 

“We talk about watching for cars and staying left,” Tarter said when asked what are some of the main focuses on safety.

 

Jones holds the mile record at PC West according to his myspace account bio about himself and had said he was going to get the two mile record this season. Jones said his occupation was RUNNER.