HELEN — The Chestatee and White County cross country teams each booked their spots in the state meet in November in Carrollton courtesy top four finishes in the Region 7-AAAA meet on Wednesday at Unicoi State Park in Helen.
The Chestatee boys took third, while White County was fourth; the order was reversed in the girls portion, with the Lady Warriors taking third and the Lady War Eagles fourth.
The meet featured perhaps the strongest field in the state, as top-ranked Marist claimed the team crown, while No. 4 Blessed Trinity took second. White County's girls entered the meet ranked second.
The boys meet was just as competitive, with No. 1 Marist claiming the team crown and No. 2 Blessed Trinity taking second. The Warriors entered the meet ranked sixth and Chestatee 10th.
Chestatee's Edwin Amaya (sixth, 16:07.6) and teammate Jesus Reyes (ninth, 16:29.2) were the only northeast Georgia runners to break the top 10. Noah Rapert paced White County in 14th (17:01.1). West Hall's Nicholas Silva led the Spartans in 17th (17:08.7).
On the girls side, Jaelen Alexander led area standouts in sixth (19:18.2), while teammate Rachel Gearing was ninth (19:25.5). Denise Gomez led Chestatee in 16th (20:04.0) and Kenna Beaman paced West Hall in 27th (22:31.2).
