CHESTNUT MOUNTAIN — The Gainesville boys and Flowery Branch girls ran their way to team championships on Tuesday at the Hall County Cross Country Championships at Chestnut Mountain Elementary.
Mugisha Bienvenu crossed the finish line just in front of North Hall's Devan Crow (17:56 to 17:58) to claim first place individually and help lead the Red Elephants to the crown. Gainesville's Alex Sosa (seventh) and Daniel Ruiz (eighth) also finished in the top 10 individually, while Miguel Lopez (11th) and David Reyes (13th) also impressed. Andrew Jones, meanwhile, also finished fifth for the Trojans.
Chestatee's Edwin Amaya also took third individually, as the War Eagles finished third as a team. Johnson was fourth (the Knights' Juan Gomez finished sixth individually), Flowery Branch fifth (the Falcons' Collin Kilgore finished fourth individually) and Lakeview sixth (the Lions' T.O. Sosebee finished ninth individually). Riverside Military (seventh), West Hall (eighth) and East Hall (ninth) rounded out the team finishes.
Meanwhile, the Lady Falcons dominated, taking spots 1-2-3 individually en route to the team crown. Erika Plummer (21:28) led the way and was followed by Shannon Hoolahan and Hannah Grainger. Elissa Oliver also took seventh for the Branch.
Chestatee's girls finished second as a team, led by Lindsey Grater's fifth place finish. Teammate McKenna Graham was also sixth. North Hall finished third as a team, including a fourth place finish for Caylee Wagner.
Johnson's girls finished fourth, Gainesville's girls fifth, West Hall's sixth and East Hall's seventh.
