GAINESVILLE — You couldn’t totally call it home-course advantage. But running on their brand-new North Hall Community Center course, the North Hall boys and girls cross country teams both repeated as Hall County Champions Thursday.
The Lady Trojans held off Cherokee Bluff 37 to 45 behind individual winner Caylee Wagner, who routed the field to post the course’s first sub-20 minute girls time with a 19:56. Flowery Branch’s Bella Brick was a distant second crossing the line in 21:10.5
The North Hall boys followed with an even tighter race initially outdueling Chestatee 39 to 46 behind Andrew Jones, who crossed in 16:37.7 to beat Chestatee’s Luke Gaddis, who finished in a 16:54.8 time. But two Chestatee runners were disqualified and Flowery Branch eventually took second with 66 points. Chestatee dropped to fifth with 98 points.
It was just the second-ever meet held on the new course but both North Hall teams do stand undefeated to this point.
“I’m really proud of our girls, who came in as an underdog,” North Hall coach Sam Borg said. “This was the first time we’ve had our full roster because of injuries and they’re really coming together and gaining a lot of confidence.
“I think this is a great venue for cross country so I hope that we can find a way to hold more meets here, whether it’s something like the North Hall Invite or the Hall County Championships. It’s a challenging but fair course.”
In the girls race, Wagner, a junior, normally a sit-back-and-wait kind of runner, instead jumped out to the lead on the start and never looked back.
“I don’t normally try to go to the front at the start but with a smaller field I decided to try that. It felt awesome really to know that I can do that and be successful,” Wagner said. “This will definitely give me more confidence to know what my body can do.
“It also was good to finally have all of our team available. I think this will also make our team as a whole more confident.”
Second place Cherokee Bluff, the favorite coming into the meet in the girls race, was within one of the Trojans through the first four finishers but North Hall’s Kinsley Kirby took 10th while the Lady Bears’ Savannah Willis finished 13th.
In the boys race, Jones, also a junior, held back at the start as Gaddis led early on the first mile loop. But as they approached the first wooded section, Jones vaulted to the front and sprinted the final stretch to pull away for the big win. He did not, however, come close to breaking his 16:07.7 course-record set three weeks ago.
The field had a solid group led by Gaddis, Flowery Branch’s Steve Faubert, and Cherokee Bluff’s Kyle Boyd to give him a push.
“The goal really was just to get a good workout and not try for a record,” Jones said. “I felt pretty confident coming in. Right now I’m just trying to get ready for the region and state meets.”
"Andrew is an elite runner and just does all of those little things. He's really fun watch run," Borg said. "He's our professional, so to speak, because he just does everything with cross country in mind."
The Chestatee boys took a good run at the Trojans initially placing four runners in the top nine. But North Hall's No. 5 runner Lance Robinson finished 16th while the War Eagles’ No. 5 runner, Caden Brooks came home in 20th.
TEAM STANDINGS
BOYS
North Hall 39
Branch 66
Johnson 91
Bluff 92
Chestatee 98
Lakeview 165
West Hall 192
East hall 206
GIRLS
North Hall 37
Bluff 45
Chestatee 73
West Hall 96
Lakeview 96
Johnson 124
http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/9/835715/cross-country-north-hall-sweeps-hall-county-championships