He is one of the fastest runners in the state of Georgia, regardless of age. He is John Dodson, a standout cross country runner in middle school at Savannah’s St. James Catholic School.
And, as confirmed in early November, he is the best middle school cross country runner in all of South Georgia. Dodson was named the 2020 ‘South of 
the Border’ Middle School Runner of the Year’ by MileSplit Georgia (ga.milesplit.com), a website in the MaxPreps mold tracking times and charting cross-country events for middle school and prep runners across the country.
It’s not difficult to spot the reasons for Dodson’s tabbing as the year’s best. The season was good to him, after all. A first-place kind of good, especially so during the month of October.
Dodson, coached by Stephanie Creeden at St. James, finished his October month of dominance on the 26th at the Savannah Private Schools Championship. He finished in first place for the Two Mile with a clip of 11:06.20.
The Private Schools title could have felt like just another day in the office for Dodson by that time, however. On October 17, when he won first place at the Georgia Middle School State Cross Country Championship, he crossed with a time of 11:10.25.
Three days earlier, on October 14, Dodson logged a 10:50.81 at Savannah Country Day’s third middle school meet. That mark stands as his personal best in the event he most frequents. If you blink, he might better that record by the time your eyes open.
His Runner of the Year candidacy was officially launched on October 8 at the Bleckley County Invitational. It was there where Dodson really staked his claim as the best around. And it was there where he proved emphatically that he could punch well above his weight at the area’s biggest events.
He dusted 44 other competitors in the JV Mixed 5000 Meter Finals with a time of 18:25.71. Incredibly, that time was nearly three minutes better than the second place finisher.
Luke Parr (21:16.10) was the runner who finished second to Dodson that day in Bleckley County. Perhaps that margin alone would suffice as impressive enough to warrant attention. But, Dodson wasn’t just alone at the front of the pack running on the cross country course, he was also alone in practice.
Every other athlete there was a high school runner, including Parr, a senior from Lee County HS.
Dodson was the only middle-schooler in the field, and he was running alone, as a solo-entry into the JV mixed portion of the Invitational.
It was Dodson versus The Field, and in that scenario, pray for The Field.
Follow Travis Jaudon on Twitter @JaudonSports and contact him at travisLjaudon@gmail.com.
