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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
Cross Country
Uphill battle
Banks County’s Destinie Martin climbs a
hill on the Oglethorpe County cross coun
try course during last Thursday’s Region
8-AA meet. Martin finished second for
the Lady Leopards with a time of 24:38.
Photos by Charles Phelps
Ahead of the pack
Several Banks County cross country runners get out 8-AA meet. The boys won the region championship. The
ahead of the pack at the start of last Thursday’s Region Leopards swept positions 2-6 en route to the victory.
Leopards claim region crown, girls finish second
Massey leads Lady Tigers to state berth with area win, boys also qualify for state
BY CHARLES PHELPS
The Banks County boys’
cross country team showed
at last week’s Region 8-AA
meet that it is going to have
a legitimate shot at a state
championship as the boys
took the region crown in
Oglethorpe County.
The Leopards’ top-five
runners finished positions
2-6 in the overall standings
en route to the team win.
Samual Davidson led the
Leopards with a time of
18:05. Griffin Stephens fin
ished second for the team
at 18:29. Jimmy Cochran
finished five seconds
behind Stephens to finish
third. Seth Ledford and
Hunter Cochran rounded
out the top-five finishers.
The top five all finished
within one minute of each
other. The team averaged
18:36. The team’s sixth and
seventh runners finished in
the top nine as well.
“The boys ran like I knew
they would, and our depth
really showed, placing our
seven in the top-nine run
ners,” head coach William
Foster said. “It was good
to get region out of the way
and allow the boys to really
focus on state and the goals
they have set for that race.”
The Lady Leopards also
qualified for state with a
second-place finish in
region.
Allison Smith finished in
sixth overall with a time of
23:14. Destinie Martin fin
ished second for the Lady
Leopards at 24:38. Mag
gie Dyer, Kennedy Smith
and Josie Ryder were the
remaining top-five finishers.
The top five were sep
arated by 3:28. The team
averaged 25:22.
“I think it was good for
the girls to race through
some adversity and still
perform well as a team,”
Foster said. “I think it will
be a real confidence build
er for us going into state,
and also, it was highest any
Banks County girls’ squad
has ever placed at a region
meet. I am so proud of
them for that accomplish
ment.”
Both Leopard teams will
compete at the state meet
this Friday.
Commerce
The Commerce Lady
Tigers finished second
overall at the Single-A Pub
lic Area-4 meet.
Kate Massey blitzed the
competition for the individ
ual area crown, finishing
in 21:12, 1:43 ahead of the
second-place finisher, Han
nah Whitehead, who is the
two-time defending state
champion.
“She ran as well as any
runner I have ever had at
Commerce,” head coach
Mark Hale said. “She ran a
strong and smart race.”
Brittany Webb finished
fourth overall in the area
and second for the team
with a time of 23:08.
“She has really become
a serious runner this year
and continues to improve,”
Hale said.
Madison Rodriguez fin
ished fifth at 23:44.
“I am so proud of how
she is finishing her career,”
Hale said. “She is having a
great senior year.”
Keila Osorio and Sharon
Merlos finished fourth and
fifth for the team, respec
tively.
The team qualified for
state this Saturday.
The boys finished third
in area meet, also qualify
ing for the state meet.
Jose Manuel Verde fin
ished seventh overall and
first for the Tigers with a
time of 19:04.
“Jose Manuel has had a
great season and this race
was a great example of
what training during the off
season will do,” Hale said.
“He has put himself in posi
tion to do great things for
Commerce cross country. I
am very proud of him.”
Austin Black finished
ninth at 19:017. Chase Bridg
es turned in his best race of
the year, setting a person
al-best time of 19:39.
“It was the biggest sur
prise of the day for me,”
Hale said. “It allowed us to
post a solid team score.”
Kevin Jandres and John
Bradley finished fourth and
fifth for the Tigers to round
out the scoring.
East Jackson: Eagles set sights on state title
BY BEN MUNRO
East Jackson coach Tomy Sitton doesn’t hold back when
asked about where his boys’ cross country team this year
ranks.
“It’s the best boys’ team I’ve ever coached,” Sitton said.
“And it’s one of the hardest working groups I’ve ever coached.”
Considering that Sitton has coached nine state champion
ship cross country teams, that’s lofty praise. The Eagles are set
to run in the state meet Saturday in Carrollton after recording
a perfect score of 15 at last Thursday’s region meet to win the
8-AAA championship by a 46-point margin.
The East Jackson team ran in a cluster at region but still
produced the top five finishers at the meet. Only 5.59 seconds
separated positions one through five in the Eagle lineup.
Chase Kennedy took the top spot with a time of 17:48.38,
followed by Chandler Kennedy (17:48.71), Shane Shelafoe
(17:49.11), Ethridge Chaisson (17:49.41) and Andres Perez
(17:53.97).
“It’s one of those things they wanted, and I think they kind
of had fun running together,” Sitton said.
Sitton hasn’t had a team tally a perfect score since one of
his Brookwood teams in the late 1990s accomplished the feat.
Now, the Eagles have their sights set on a state title, with a
near miss in 2014 (East Jackson lost on a tiebreaker that came
down to the sixth runner) still on the runners’ minds.
“They’ve been working for it, and they’re in a position
where they have a shot at doing it,” said Sitton, who last won
a title with Peachtree Ridge in 2010 “It doesn’t matter too much
what happens during the season. It’s just that one day.”
Meanwhile, the East Jackson girls’ program is on an
upswing.
Sue Ann Morales won the Region 8-AAA individual title by
beating Hart County standout Audrey Honiotes by just over
three seconds with a time of 18:32.08. The Lady Eagles boast
ed two other top 10 finishers — Abigail Howington (seventh,
22:25.40) and Elizabeth Herring (ninth, 22:42.98) to finish as
Region 8-AAA runners up behind Hart County (22 points).
Shiquita Sturdivant (13th, 23:56.85) and Anna Fox (17th,
24:20.26) rounded out the top five. East Jackson finished 28
points ahead of third-place Jackson County (75 points).
“The girls’ team is really the one that I think ran really well,”
Sitton said. “On paper, it looked like it was going to be really,
really close between second, third and fourth, but they ran
really well and some of the girls ran their best times of the
year.”
Morales now faces a highly-competitive field in Class AAA
as she tries to defend her state title. The most talented of those
mnners is Lovett’s Serena Tripodi, who has produced the best
time in Class AAA this year with a 17:41.43. She was the indi
vidual champion in Class AA last year.
“I told her yesterday she’s got to stick on her,” Sitton said.
“They both are very good mnners. They both are returning
state champions. It’s just that Lovett moved into triple-A. Sue’s
best race is to try to keep it close until the end.”
Morales will also have to contend with Honiotes and West
minster’s Delaney Graham.
“It’s a much tougher field this year in the girls than it was last
year,” Sitton said.
As for the boys, Chase Kennedy aims to close out his career
as a three-time champion.
“That is his goal - to win,” Sitton said. “At the same time,
he’d like to break 16 (minutes) at the state meet... if he can do
that, that would be a big accomplishment.”
As a team, East Jackson has been the favorite since the
preseason to take the Class AAA title. The Eagles will look to
hold off challengers like North Hall, Westminster and Dawson
County to earn the school’s first cross country title.
“Westminster has got a good team, and so does North
Hall and so does Dawson ... You’ve got to have a strong one
through five, not a strong one through three like we did two
years ago,” Sitton said.
For Sitton, winning a state title with this group would be
special having seen it grow up over the past four years.
“It’s probably one of my favorite groups that I’ve ever
coached,” Sitton said. “You know, the personalities, and I’ve
been with them all four years and I’m close with the kids and
the parents. The kids have been there all four years with the
program.”
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