The North Hall cross country standout claimed his 11th victory of the season in the Class AAA cross country championship on Saturday in Carrollton.
Meanwhile, the Flowery Branch boys, running in their first ever Class AAAA meet, finished third.
The Falcons, who won the last two Class AAA titles, were led by Kenny Slavik's fourth-place finish. Marist won Class AAAA, while Chapel Hill was second. Flowery Branch's Maurice Riden crossed the finish line in 14th place.
Barger's 15:35 finish led the way for area runner's on Saturday. The blistering pace time to get a measure of revenge against Brandan Hoben of St. Pius, the only Georgia runner to beat Barger during the season.
Barger's victory helped the North Hall boys finish second to St. Pius and ahead of Woodward Academy, who took third. West Hall finished fourth, tying its best-ever state finish (2007) and Riverwood was fifth in the team standings.
"Cody really set back on his heels and pushed the pace hard at the end," North Hall coach Drew Rogers said. "He blew them away in the final quarter-mile."
In the girls competition, Columbus took the team title with North Hall taking second. St. Pius was third, West Hall was fourth, and Heritage, Catoosa fifth.
Victoria Rogers led the Lady Trojans, finishing fifth (19:51). Teammate Ansley Lawson also finished 10th.
West Hall coach Sam Borg said it was a special day for his squads. The fourth-place finish for the girls was their best-ever finish at the state meet.
"It was a dream come true for both teams to stand on the podium," Borg said. "That was our goal coming into the meeet and they did a great job to pull it off."
Borg also said he expects even bigger things down the road for teams.
"We have a lot of young runners on both teams," he said. "We only have one senior in our top 12 girls runners so we're hoping this will be the start of big things for us the next few years."
Josh Pendley was West Hall's top boys runner taking 13th, his best finish ever at state. Jimmy Gault was 15th for the Spartans. Freshman Savanah Smith led the Lady Spartans with a 12th-place finish. Ryan Sharry was 16th for the West Hall girls.
In Class AA, Dawson County's boys also finished sixth, while Jefferson's Kyle Kashuba was the top area finisher in 14th place.
On the girls' side, Buford's Maya Dillard ran her way to fourth place, finishing in 19:40. Jackson County's Brittany Aikens was also sixth (19:52). The Lady Panthers were fourth overall, while Buford finished fifth as a team.
And, in Class A, Lakeview Academy concluded its first ever trip to the state meet by finishing 16th in the field, with an average time of 19:36. Dustin Snyder paced the Lions, finishing in 18:49.
Cody Barger
http://accesswdun.com/article/2010/11/233607