HELEN — It was a big day for both Dawson County and Flowery Branch cross country programs on Thursday with the Tigers and Falcons sweeping up their respective region titles, as runners from both 7-AAA and 8-AAAAA descended on Helen's Unicoi State Park.
The Tigers not only captured team honors but also claimed both individual gold medals, as Jacob Poston and Frankie Muldoon each finished first. Meanwhile, Flowery Branch's Erika Plummer also brought home the 8-AAAAA girls title -- although Johnson's Isaac Hernandez prevented a complete sweep for the Falcons, as he won the boys crown.
(NOTE: Click play on the video above for video highlights and interviews with winners from Thursday's events.)
DAWSON EDGES BOTH 7-AAA TITLES
The Tigers notched the boys team championship on Thursday by one solitary place, tallying 36 points -- compared to 37 for second place North Hall.
Dawson County finished first, fourth, sixth, 12th and 13th (of the counted finishes), while North Hall took second, third, eighth 10th and 14th to wind up second. Union County also qualified for next week's state championships in Carrollton by finishing fourth, while Greater Atlanta Christian was third.
Jacob Poston's blistering pace of 15 minutes, 32 seconds smashed a school record and proved the fastest time of the day by any runner on the course, leading the Tigers. North Hall's Tommy Johnston took second (16:00), while teammate Devan Crow finished third (16:14). Dawson's Christopher Shelp also finished fourth (16:54), while Lance Underwood paced Union County in fifth (16:57). East Hall's Jose Santana also took seventh (17:09).
Rounding out the top 10 were Dawson's Cody Wood (sixth) and North Hall's Carter Robinson and Gregor Sebba (eighth and 10th, respectively).
The girls side of the meet was almost as competitive, with the Lady Tigers edging out North Hall 37 points to 40. Dawson's girls finished first, second, ninth, 12th and 13th -- with North Hall coming in fourth, seventh, eighth, 10th and 11th. Union County also finished third, while GAC took fourth.
Muldoon crossed the finish line first in 19:26 and teammate Marley Hamby was just behind (20:01). Meanwhile, Mattie Bohanan led North Hall in fourth (20:34), while Zoe Sanchez paced Union County in sixth (20:43). Also in the top 10 were North Hall's Georgina Hoffman, Hennebry Waters and Morgan Mize (seventh, eighth and 10th), and Dawson's Bailey Cotter (ninth).
BRANCH SWEEPS UP 8-AAAAA
Plummer helped the Lady Falcons dominate the girls portion of the region meet, as she put up the fastest girls time of the day by finishing in 18:47 to help her team to its third straight region title. She was more than a minute ahead of teammate Shannon Hoolahan, who took second in 19:53. Hannah Grainger and Mariah Millsap also finished fourth and eighth, as Flowery Branch eased past Johnson in second. Buford also finished third in the team standings, Loganville fourth.
Buford's Sarah Davis took third individually (19:57), and Taylor Farmer led the way for the Lady Knights, finishing 10th (21:21).
The Johnson boys used Isaac Hernandez's fleet-footed performance to clinch a state berth, as the Knights standout claimed gold in 16:03; Luis Alvarado also finished fifth (17:13). The Johnson boys finished fourth as a team.
No squad could touch the Falcons, however, as the Branch claimed first behind three top 10 finishes en route to their fifth straight region championship. Ethan Hargrove led the way in fourth (16:35), while Marc Grindy was sixth (17:26) and Cole Kilgore ninth (17:29); teammate Devan Wainer also finished 11th.
Chase Hartman led Buford with a seventh-place finish (17:28).
