‘Hurricane Rachel’

Jacksonville’s Sloughy, just a freshman, wins Oxford’s Yellow Jacket Invitational. Oxford’s boys take top team spot, White Plains third.

By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today

OXFORD — Much like the actual storm, we were warned about “Hurricane Rachel.” A U.S. Army paper in Virginia heralded her pending landfall in cross country when she was 5.

Nine years later, Jacksonville’s Rachel Sloughy made landfall on the Calhoun County high school cross country scene.

The freshman won Saturday’s 19th annual Yellow Jacket Invitational at Choccolocco Park, leading a field of 184 runners from 15 teams in Alabama and Georgia.

A week after taking second in White Plains’ meet, Sloughy finished in 20 minutes, 20.58 seconds, beating East Paulding (Ga.) runner Aylin Partida by 14.29 seconds.

Sloughy was the top local finisher in a race that saw several eye-catching results from area teams. Oxford’s, led by Hunter Hartwell’s third-place finish (16:35.89), took first place in the team standings, and White Plains’ boys got a fourth-place finish from Jaiden Garcia (16:53.89) while finishing third.

Horseshoe Bend’s David Layfield won the boys’ race in 16:03.22, and Jacksonville’s Quinn Weaver celebrated his recent commitment to Mississippi College by edging Hartwell for second place (16:35.64) in a two-man sprint to the finish line.

EA+ subscribers can get pictures, videos and lots more details, including more on the story behind how Rachel Sloughy was dubbed “Hurricane Rachel.”