The Shadow
HOT SPRINGS — Mike Cox has tapped into the local high school cross country talent pool once again.
Thursday afternoon at Bath County High School, Jacob Lindsay became the latest area athlete to cross the border and commit to run at Concord University in Athens, W.Va.
The Charger senior is a two-time state Class 1 qualifier and finished 31st at this year’s championship race.
Lindsay will join the Alleghany tandem of Cedric Drennen and Riley Griffith at Concord in the fall and follow a long line of area runners to Athens to run for Cox, a former Virginia Tech star and 19-year Mountain Lion coach.
“I know Cedric from running and it was a blessing to meet him early on and to find a college because of him,” Jacob said. “I met the coach at states and he was a very nice man. After states, he contacted me and gave me a chance to come on the team and I accepted.”
Lindsay transferred to Bath County from Southeast Bulloch High School in Statesboro, Georgia, before his sophomore season.
“Jacob’s determination and hard work have just been phenomenal,” said BCHS cross country coach Lisa Hamilton. “He came here in the 10th grade and he was just determined to get better and better. He just worked so hard in the off-season as well as in-season to make this happen.”
Lindsay, who plans on studying athletic training at Concord, had something to prove when he transfered to Bath County.
“When I moved here it was a fresh start and I wanted to prove to my friends back in Georgia that I could get up to their level,” Jacob said. “In Georgia I wasn’t that fast. It was here where I really started to get into it.
“The team there, we probably had about 30 people,” he added. “Here, we barely had 11. It was a different environment of training. But you get more one-on-one time with your teammates and your coach (here).”
Did he reach his former teammates level?
“I got to most of their levels,” Lindsay said with a laugh.
The proof came with the payoff on Thursday.
“I’m just so proud of him,” Hamilton finished. “It’s nice to see kids work hard and get rewarded.”
