Hood shows promising future on trails for Rye Cove

Rye Cove freshman Ty Hood at the VHSL Class 1 state cross country meet in Salem. Contributed photo CLINCHPORT — Ty Hood is a freshman on the run. A lot of running. The Rye Cove cross country standout recently completed a successful cross country season for Rye Cove, capping off the campaign with an 18th place finish in the VHSL Class 1 state meet, including the top mark for any freshman in the field. That followed a second place finish in the Cumberland District meet and fourth in the Region 1D meet. Hood, who will also play basketball and baseball for the Eagles, has big dreams for next season on the trails. "Hopefully I want to win region and district and finish in the top 10 in state," Hood said. "I want to take my team up to state most of all." There is no doubt the 6-foot-2 Hood will put in the effort to make it happen. "It is unreal how he pushes himself and works," Rye Cove cross country coach Iris Shepard said. "I can't ask for no better kid with the way he works hard at it every day, every practice. When he is sick he still runs and pushes himself and when he is hurting." Hood got his first taste of competitive running while participating in the Duffield Daze as a sixth grader in Duffield. That led to a successful tenure in middle school, where he actually served as a target to catch for the varsity squad. "We would run him with the varsity when he was in middle school because he was outrunning varsity people. We would let them run and try to catch him," said Shepard, whose daughter, Harley Mosley, ran at the state level for Rye Cove. "That is the way he has always been. I couldn't ask for no better runner though. I am so proud of him, he has made me a proud coach." Ditto for Rye Cove co-coach Grace Rhoton Dillon, who was a standout at Rye Cove, winning the Region 1D title twice and reaching the state meet three times under the direction of her mother, Lisa Rhoton, who worked with Hood in the sixth through eighth grades. "Ty is such a hard worker and he has been practicing on the varsity level since he was in middle school. We just expected that from him," Dillon said. "I just want to reiterate how goal-oriented and how focused Ty's mindset is and how much of a coachable kid he is, just always wanting to push himself, push his team to get better. I feel like Ty is just very, very determined." That attitude and perseverance is needed in a grueling sport like cross country. He had endured sickness and overcome hip and knee pain from a recent growth spurt to his current height, but hasn't allowed it to slow him down. "It is the toughest sport there is, it is a tough sport. It is a good challenge, it is very hard though," said Hood, who made a smooth transition to the longer distances at the varsity level. "You have got to get your stamina up more when you are running more than than 1.5 or two miles in middle school...It is fun. You can spend time with teammates, it is really fun." Rye Cove had its first boys team in recent memory this season, with one senior, two sophomores and three freshmen, including Ty, with only four of them having ever run a varsity race. While the team fell short of a state berth, his teammates still joined the coaches to support Hood at Green Hill Park in Salem on Nov. 1 for the Class 1 state meet. "They really push me and support me. When their season was done in region, they came and supported me at state and they made me run pretty good," Hood said. "I couldn't ask for better coaches or teammates this year. They help me in all kinds of ways. They are the best coaches I can ask for. They keep us in shape, we just train and get ready for everything." Hood finished second in the Cumberland District meet held on the mountainous terrain of Natural Tunnel State Park, recording a time of 19:29.50 on the same course that the Eagles train on during the season. The next two big events were on flat terrain, with Hood placing fourth (18:03.88) in the Region 1D meet at UVA Wise, and 18th (17:29.30) in Salem, ranking first among freshmen and third among Region 1D participants. "They were fast. Everybody was really good and prepared and came ready to run," said Hood, whose personal best time is 16:40 set at Osbow Lake near Saint Paul. "State, I think I ran pretty good, but the first 400 yards is tough because everybody was getting out fast and you couldn't get past nobody at the start line like that." Rye Cove is a small community that always seems to come through when needed by local athletes. Hood can speak from experience, after a Facebook post requesting financial assistance for spikes to help run on grassy terrain was fulfilled within an hour. "I really like a small school because everybody is so school spirited in supporting each other," said Hood, who was also the recipient of a send-off on the day prior to the state meet by the Rye Cove student body. "That was crazy," he said. "It is the best feeling, everybody cheering you on to go run.