Fellowship Student Makes School History with Cross Country Victory

Submitted by John Heid, sports information director at Fellowship Christian School

To say Emma Grace Hurley has had an impressive season this fall is pretty much an understatement.

The Fellowship Christian School junior on Saturday, Nov. 8 finished an undefeated season with a victory in the Single A private school girls’ race at the GHSA Cross Country Championships held at Carrollton High School.

Hurley finished first in a field of 118 runners from 34 schools around the state with a time of 19:06.78. She bested the second-place finisher by over 23 seconds.

Hurley has won all nine varsity races she’s competed in this season, with Saturday’s being the biggest of her career. She became the first athlete representing FCS to capture a state championship in any individual or team sport.

Senior Hayden Harvard, sophomores Julia Claeys, Ansley Harmon, Emmie Harvard and Jaqueline Lewis and freshman Caroline Keim also competed in the race for Fellowship. Keim finished 28th in the race.

As a team, the Fellowship girls’ cross country team ranked 17th out of 34 teams heading into the Single A private school race. Hurley was the top-ranked individual runner among Single A runners and second among female runners from all classes.

“What a year Emma Grace has had,” co-head coach Tom Harrison said. “She is a motivated runner, who is drawn to competition. The close proximity of 5K races in Georgia high school girls’ cross country always keeps her thinking about the next race. She really puts in the hard work necessary to be a top-flight runner. She trains hard and really truly enjoys what she does.”

“Keim finished the season ranked fifth overall in our region and 27th overall in GA private schools among 300-plus runners,” Harrison said. “She finished the season with a hard-fought race.”

On Oct. 30, the FCS varsity girls’ cross country team placed fourth overall at the Area Meet held at Dellinger Park in Cartersville to qualify for the state meet. Hurley set a course record and won the race, while Keim placed fifth overall.

File photo: Emma Grace Hurley. Credit: Fellowship Christian School