By Jay Compton

jay.compton@middlesboronews.com

 

Bell County senior Hayden Green signed on Monday to continue his cross country career at Midway University.

“It means so much,” he said. “I’ve always looked forward to running in college since I started and I’m just happy to know I’ll be running for the next four years.”

Green started running with the Bobcat cross country team as a fourth grader and stayed with it for nine years. He placed 15th at the regional meet last fall and helped the Bobcats to an 11th place finish at the Class 2A State Cross Country meet.

“He was one of the first kids that came through when we really started focusing on elementary cross country in Bell County,” BCHS cross country coach Jason Stewart said. “He’s a product of that and he was able to grow and advance. He was successful at elementary, middle school JV and varsity. Now he’s going on and Midway wasn’t his only option — We are so proud of him.”

Coach Stewart said cross country is a sport that puts the individual out on their own to see what they can do. Green said it was his mother, Allison, that got him started with the sport.

“Funny enough I started because my mom made me do it and I really hated it at first. But I ended up falling in love with the sport and now it’s one of my favorite things that I do,” he said.

Athletic Director Rodney Slusher had some thoughts on the matter.

“We’re extremely proud of Hayden. He’s not only earned this scholarship from Midway, he’s put a whole lot of years in,” Slusher said. “No matter what sport it is, you don’t just come to high school and as a junior or senior decide you’re going to play at the next level. You have to put a lot of time in and a lot of effort and he’s done that.”

Green said he chose Midway because he felt at home there.

“It’s got a really good family atmosphere and they have the right kind of people that I’m going to get to run with. They really welcomed me when I went and visited there,” Green said.

He plans to major in Secondary Education at Midway.

“I really want to be a teacher and I feel like I’ve learned a lot from my teachers and I want to keep that going,” Green added. “I’m so thankful to my coach and my mom. They really did a lot for me throughout every year.”