BOYS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE YEAR: Corey Jones, Richmond Hill

COREY JONES

SCHOOL: Richmond Hill

AGE/GRADE: 17/Senior

HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 5-foot-8, 157 pounds

ACHIEVEMENTS: Finished 4th at GHSA Class AAAAA state meet (16:53.09) as team placed 16th; won Region 3-AAAAA (16:42.16) for champion Wildcats; won Fishy Invitational on Oct. 17 (personal best 16:24); won Savannah Country Day meet Oct. 10 (16:25.33); 2nd in Red Division at Aubrae Gunderson Invitational on Sept. 28 (16:17.23 short course); 6th at Wayne County on Aug. 29 (17:58); 7th at Fleet Feet XC Kickoff Classic on Aug. 24 (17:51). Since moving here from Texas before his junior year, Jones has been named most valuable player for the Wildcats boys cross country team as a junior and senior, and for the boys track team last spring. All-Greater Savannah first-team boys cross country runner in 2012.

INTERESTS: Reading Young Adult fiction; playing video games; member of Richmond Hill's Young Democrats club; volunteer assistant coach for Richmond Hill boys ages 11-12 team.

WHAT'S NEXT: To run track in college. "If the coach wants me to do cross country, I'm willing to do it," Jones said. He has gotten interest from USC Beaufort and Queens University of Charlotte (N.C.), and he also is interested in the University of South Carolina in Columbia and East Carolina. He is considering majoring in computer science.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ...

COREY ON COREY: "I think my season went very well. ... My goal was to drop my (personal record) from 16:43 my junior year. (He did with a 16:24.) My goal was to drop my time and have a pretty good performance at state. (He did both, bettering sixth place and 17:03.38) ... I've always been a competitive person, even as a young age. I did run track and cross country in Texas. Out there in Texas, they are very aggressive when it comes to winning. ... I do still consider myself a track guy. Even if my main sport is track and field, whatever I'm doing, I try my best at it. That's my life motto."

RICHMOND HILL COACH LEVI SYBERT: "He has one thing that not all athletes have: He's got this drive to win that you can't really coach in kids. Either they've got it or they don't. You can improve it. Corey's always had it. He gets out there, he does not want to lose. He's willing to push his body to 100 percent to win. ... He's more of an 800-meter runner, the 1 mile and maybe the 400. To run a 3-mile race, that's a tall order for a sprinter. ... His desire to win has carried him. ... He has that tenacity you wish every athlete had."

PLAYERS OF THE YEAR: SATURDAY: SOFTBALL, BROOKE EICHENLAUB, SAVANNAH CHRISTIAN; SUNDAY: VOLLEYBALL, SYDNEY HARPER, SAVANNAH CHRISTIAN; MONDAY: GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY, AMANDA ELLIOTT, RICHMOND HILL; TODAY: BOYS CROSS COUNTRY, COREY JONES, RICHMOND HILL; WEDNESDAY: FOOTBALL DEFENSE; THURSDAY: FOOTBALL OFFENSE.