Today, Wild Trails announces a $1,000 gift to the Mountain Education Foundation in support of the Signal Mountain High School Cross Country Team.
The gift comes from proceeds from the 9th Annual Rock/Creek StumpJump 50k & 11 Mile trail race, which took place the first weekend of October. Signal Mountain High School, Mountain Education Foundation, cross country runners and their parents were eager to host StumpJump this year and have been proud supporters of the race since the new school opened in 2007. The Mountain Education Foundation, a non-profit organization formed to provide ongoing financial support to achieve and maintain excellence in the Signal Mountain public schools, will allocate these funds to the Signal Mountain Cross Country program.
“Our partnership with Rock/Creek is helping to raise the funds our cross country program needs while creating excellence for our student athletes,” said Mike Taylor, Executive Director of Mountain Education Foundation and StumpJump race day volunteer.
Les Hegwood, Signal Mountain Cross Country coach & StumpJump volunteer, and Rock/Creek, comments on the gift. “Our program’s financial sustenance is due in whole to the generous support of the people at Rock/Creek. As we have developed and deepened our partnership with them in the creation and maintenance of the trails we train on as well as our hosting the StumpJump race every October, the benefits to my program are evident in that we have a community of student trail runners and a championship cross country program.”
The Signal Mountain Cross Country team competed in the TSSAA – Region 3 A-AA & AAA & Region 4 A-AA tournament last Thursday and secured themselves a place in the TSSAA State meet next Saturday, November 6th in Nashville, TN. The Boys team finished 1st place in their division and the Girls team finished 3rd. Kris Whorton has been the assistant coach of the team for the past two years and had this to say about the team’s showing this season: “This year we have an impressive boy’s team and four strong freshman girls joining this year’s upperclassmen girls to complete their roster for the first time.” When asked to comment on her role as board member and coach, Whorton said, “It is a great pleasure to work with these kids on the trails in their own backyard and an even greater pleasure to be able to contribute time and financial support to fostering their passion for trail running, the outdoors, and volunteerism.”
Rock/Creek is extremely grateful for the support of Signal Mountain High School, Mountain Education Foundation, and the Signal Mountain Cross Country Team and look forward to continued partnership in the future.
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