O’neal three-peats as state cross country champion
Gordon Lee’s Gracie O’neal came into the girls’ Class 1A Public School cross country state championship meet as the clear choice as the runner to beat.
And no one did.
O’neal put a big navy blue bow on an unbelievable high school cross country career with her third consecutive state title in Carrollton on Saturday. Her time of 20:14 was 1:32 ahead of her next closest competitor, Commerce’s Paden Ball.
“It’s crazy,” she said. “It just doesn’t seem real and it doesn’t seem real that this should be the last one. My freshman year, I never thought I’d even run cross country, so this just all doesn’t seem real.”
O’neal said the reality of her final GHSA race kept going through her mind, especially in the closing minutes of the race.
“In my head, I was thinking ‘oh my goodness, this is it. This is the last time I’m going to be on this course’,” she explained. “It’s a tough course. (Saturday) wasn’t perfect, but it was still the fastest time that I’ve ever run on that course and that’s really all you can ask for.”
While it will be the last official GHSA cross country race for O’neal, the standout senior will continue with some post-season races, including the Meet of Champions on Nov. 16 and the Foot Locker South Regionals on Nov. 30.
Her individual win helped the Lady Trojans to an eighth-place finish in the team standings.
Haley Hartman finished 24th overall for Gordon Lee in a time of 25:18, while the rest of the lineup included Cora Fehr (27:58), Emilie Eldridge (28:27), Taylor Hunley (29:24) and Olivia Rodgers (31:09).
Academy for Classical Education won the girls’ team title with 70 points, followed in the top five by Commerce (108), Georgia Military (114), Telfair County (119) and Towns County (146).
On the boys’ side, Gordon Lee also finished in eighth overall. Commerce took the crown with 38 points as Brandon Martin (17:02) and Demarco Hernandez (17:34) gave the Tigers a 1-2 individual finish.
Schley County was second with 91 points, followed by Lake Oconee Academy (92), Towns County (94) and Atkinson County (103).
Jake Lee was the top runner for Gordon Lee as he finished 14th in a time of 19:07. Also running for the Trojans was Carson Carpenter (20:08), Carter Pullen (21:10), Luke Taylor (23:11) and Tanner Wilson (23:50).
Class 3A
Kale Davis crossed the finish line in 19:15 as the Ringgold Tigers placed 21st overall in the Class 3A boys’ state cross country championships in Carrollton on Saturday.
Dau Dau was second for the Tigers as he completed the course in 20 minutes even, one second ahead of teammate Brandon Morris (20:01). Dylan Simpson-rister (20:35), Ajack Dau (21:20), Joseph Santiago (21:56) and Jacob
Sparks (22:04) rounded out the lineup for the Blue-andwhite.
Westminster won the team title with 74 points, edging out rival Pace Academy (76) for the title. Lovett (101), North Hall (115) and Dawson County (121) rounded out the top five.
Among other teams in Region 6, Coahulla Creek was 10th overall, Calhoun was 15th and Sonoraville was 22nd.
North Hall’s Andrew Jones won the individual title with a time of 16:18, while Southeast Bulloch’s Avery Jaynes (16:30) was the runner-up.
Class 4A
Heritage junior Allison Craft was the top finisher from Region 6 in the girls’ Class 4A state cross country championship race on Friday in Carrollton.
Craft’s time of 21:03 was her second-fastest time of the season and gave her a 22nd place finish in the overall individual standings. As a team, the Lady Generals finished 19th in the field.
Mia Callahan clocked in at 24:18 for Heritage, followed by Alexis Faul (24:48), Allie Mifflin (25:28), Kalei Howard (25:53), Emma Tennyson (26:19) and Gracie Mccoy (31:01).
Hannah Miniutti of Blessed Trinity clocked in at 18:51 to beat her teammate Kelly Ann Sutterfield by six seconds in the individual standings.
However, Blessed Trinity would come up short in the team standings to St. Pius X. The Golden Lions won the state title with 46 points by putting all seven of their runners in the top 25, while their top five runners all finished within the first 18 spots.
Blessed Trinity finished with 50 points, while its 1-2 finish gave them a four-point edge over third-place Marist (54). All 21 combined runners from the top three teams finished in the top 40 overall. Oconee County (81) placed fourth and White County (198) was a distant fifth.
Among the other teams from Region 6, Southeast Whitfield was 12th, Pickens was 22nd and Gilmer was 24th.
On the boys’ side, Lafayette’s Devin Henderson, who qualified for state as an individual, clocked in at 18:41 to finish 74th overall.
The top finisher for Heritage was Gavin Chandler, who placed 84th in 18:59. The Generals, who qualified for state as a team, got a 19:24 from Luke Shackelford, a 19:43 from Davis Justice, a 20:26 from Jake Krajesky, a 20:34 from Collin Black and a 21:05 from Gauge Sartin.
In the team standings, St. Pius X made it a sweep with 49 points as they put all seven of their runners in the top 22 and put their best five runners in the top 14. Denmark (101), Oconee County (148), Chestatee (163) and Blessed Trinity (168) rounded out the top five.
Among the other teams from Region 6, Pickens was 10th, Southeast Whitfield was 19th, Heritage was 22nd and Gilmer was 23rd.
Justin Wachtel of Mary Persons was the individual winner in 16:05, while Luke Gaddis of Chestatee (16:41) was the state runner-up.