Jackson Hunter gets Wingfoot Classic redemption with 5K win
In 2025, Glynn Academy Terrors runner, Jackson Hunter, was in the midst of running the annual Wingfoot Classic, but would unfortunately have his season come to an end after suffering an injury on the Sam Smith Park course. "It felt amazing,: Hunter said after his return Cartersville resulted in him crossing the finish line to win the Boys Varsity A 5K in a time of 15:48.2.
"When we pulled in, it was still dark and I felt like I was running a championship race ," Hunter said, calling the Cartersville race a "full circle moment," in route to his win, which he led nearly the entirety of the run. "I just wanted to take it from the start and I never gave it up," Hunter said of his win, adding that he simply wanted to "go out and win", notching his best time of the season.
In the Girls Varsity A 5K, Lakeside (Evans, Georgia) runner Abigail Wong would take the tape setting a new personal record as she would win in a time of 18:33.3. "Going into the race I just had to keep pace and stay with the top group," Wong said of her run, noting she had found herself "boxed in" at one point during the run, however strategically made her way into the top 10 runners as they approached the one mile marker.
"I just had to keep on pushing it," Wong said of working her way up to the third position as the race neared the two mile mark. "Then about two and a half miles, I started picking it up to second, then the last 800 meter, I passed the first place runner," Wong said of "staying in the back pocket" of Dunwoody's Callie McJunkin and then eventually making a strong enough move to get out in front.
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