Friday March 29th, 2024 8:42AM

Cross country: Nearly two dozen area teams qualify for state meet

By AccessWDUN

HELEN — The North Hall boys and girls cross country teams swept the Region 7-3A meet Thursday at Unicoi State Park.

The Trojans' Devan Crow also won the boys individual meet with a winning 15:30 time. Dawson County's Frankie Muldoon took the girls individual meet with an 18:22 time.

The top four teams qualified for next week's state meet in Carrollton.

In the boys meet, North Hall nipped Dawson County for the title. The Trojans won with 29 points while the Tigers finished with 32 points. Both teams were dominant as North Hall had all five of its runners, including Crow and second place finisher Andrew Jones, finish in the top 11. The Tigers had all five of counting runners place in the top 10, led by third-place finisher Ben McGinnis and fourth-place Cody Wood.

Cherokee Bluff and Greater Atlanta Christian tied for third place with 89 points to qualify for the state meet. It will be the first boys individual or team for the Bears to qualify for a state tournament.

In the girls meet, North Hall took the title with 29 points with Dawson County taking second with 54 points. The Lady Trojans had four runners in the top 7.

Lumpkin County finished third with 80 points while Cherokee Bluff was fourth with 122 points, nipping GAC (123) by 1 point to qualify for the state meet.

It will be the first girls individual or team for the Lady Bears to qualify for a state tournament.

 

GAINESVILLE SWEEPS 8-6A TITLES

The Gainesville boys and girls cross country teams swept the Region 8-6A meet.

Ashley Thompson led the Lady Red Elephnats with a second place finish. The Lady Red Elephants had all five counting runners finish in the top 10.

The Gainesville boys also placed five in the top 10, paced by Miguel Lopez, who took the boys individual title.

 

JHS BOYS, GIRLS, BUFORD BOYS QUALIFY IN 8-5A

The Johnson boys took second in Region 8-5A getting nipped by champion Loganville. The Knights finished with 52 points to the Red Devils 50.

Buford took third with 58 points, led by Bailey Hunter, who took the individual boys title with a winning 16:16.20 time. Johnson's Luis Alvarado took third.

The Johnson girls finished in third with 82 points.

All three teams qualified for the state meet next week.

 

JEFFERSON TEAMS SWEEP 8-3A MEET

The Jefferson boys held off Hart County to capture the Region 8-3A title at Lamar Murphy Park.

The Dragons tallied 47 points to the Bulldogs 52 points. Jackson County had 76 and East Jackson 92 points as all four teams qualified for the state meet.

East Jackson's Shane Shelafoe took the individual boys race with a 16:11.60 winning time. Jefferson's Riley Thornton was second.

Meanwhile, the Lady Dragons rolled to an impressive win with 21 total points, placing all five runners in the top 7.

Caitlin Schroeder won the indivdiual girls race with a 20:14.74 time nipping teammate Katherine Law, who finished second.

East Jackson was a distant second with 74 points and Jackson County was third with 80 points. Hart County finished fourth.

 

BOTH BANKS, UNION TEAMS, RABUN GIRLS ADVANCE IN 8-2A

The Banks County boys nipped Union County by just one point while the the Banks County, Union County, and Rabun County girls teams finished 1-2-3 in the Region 8-2A meet Thursday.

The Leopards tallied 42 points to Union's 43 in the boys race. In the girls race Banks County had 32 with Union County piling up 58 and Rabun County 92.

Union County's Zoe Sanzhez won the individual girls race while Rabun County's Guy Gober took the individual boys race.

 

RIVERSIDE BOYS TAKE 4TH

The Eagles finished fourth at the Class A-Area 2 meet in Peachtree Corners. Riverside earned the final spot in a tiebreaker over Providence Christian with its sixth-place runner -- Cooper Lindsay, 19:56 -- having a better time than the Storm's sixth-place finisher.

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