Heritage runners place in top 12
Runners from Heritage turned in solid performances at the GHSA Class AAAA State Cross Country Championships at Carrollton High School on Friday.
Heritage freshman Zoie St. John placed 23rd overall in the girls’ race with a time of 22:06. Mia Callahan finished 67th overall with a 24:29, while the rest of the Lady Generals’ lineup featured Alexis Faul (25:23), Lila Langston (25:29), Anna Bradford (25:57), Allie Mifflin (26:13) and Mady Terry (26:13).
It was a solid day for the four qualifying teams from Region 7. Central-carroll (116 points) finished third with Southeast Whitfield taking seventh place and Pickens finishing in ninth to go with Heritage’s 12th-place showing in the team standings. A total of 28 teams and 186 runners competed in the race.
Marist dominated the meet and won with 17 points as the War Eagles had the top four runners of the day and the seventh-place finisher, while Jefferson (101) was a distant second. Ruby Little (18:54) won the individual title, followed by her teammate Johna Grisik (19:40).
In the boys’ race, senior Davis Justice placed 31st overall for Heritage with a time of 18:32. Freshman Will Riddell was 44th at 18:45, while senior Gavin Chandler placed 47th overall with an 18:48. Also running for the Generals were Collin Black (20:15), Cecil Bussey (20:20), Grayson Stallings (20:21) and Ryan Walker (20:56).
Sage Walker of Druid Hills was the individual state champion with a time of 16:34, followed by Garrett Grater of Chestatee at 16:41. A total of 186 runners participated in the race.
Chestatee (38) edged out Marist (46) for the team championship, followed by Jefferson with 95. Pickens was fourth to lead the Region 7 contingent. Southeast Whitfield finished sixth and Central-carroll was ninth, while Heritage placed 11th out of 28 teams.