Gordon Lee boys, LaFayette girls win inaugural Walker County XC titles
LaFayette High School was the site for the first-ever Walker County Cross Country Championships this past Monday and the LaFayette girls and Gordon Lee boys emerged victorious.
The Lady Ramblers finished with 27 points to edge out the Lady Trojans (30) for the top spot. Ridgeland was not able to post a team score as they did not have enough runners to qualify.
Meanwhile, the Trojans finished with 30 points to beat Ridgeland by eight. LaFayette (54) placed third.
Oakwood Christian was not in the field as the school does not have any high school cross country runners this season.
Kate Gilliam (24:48) and Sarah Young (24:54) gave Gordon Lee the top two spots in the girls’ individual varsity standings. LaFayette’s Kaci Rogers (25:35) was third, followed in the top six by her teammates Maddie Stier (26:57), Brianna Minor (28:15) and Ali Gilbreath (28:36).
Also running for the Lady Ramblers were Hannah Elliott (31:50), Sierra Jackson (33:53), Lauren Pike (35:08) and Rachel Graham (36:30).
Chanler Hysell (29:18), Kaitlyn Hester (30:38), Kylie Walker (33:07), Lennon Lowery (33:42) and Michaela Russell (34:08) filled out the line up for Gordon Lee.
Madison Morris (33:32) and Marina Mosgrove (38:09) ran for the Lady Panthers.
On the boys’ side, Gabe Ashley ran an 18:13 for Ridgeland to beat out Gordon Lee’s Jasper Wilson (18:32) and Justin Collins (18:54) for the top spot. Coby Voyles (18:58) and Bode Tucker (19:54) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, for the Panthers, while Bailey Burns of Gordon Lee (20:02) was sixth.
Also running for the Trojans were Ian Goodwin (20:23), Jake Wright (20:43), Braxton Ledford (22:30), Rob Napier (22:42), Weston Beagles (24:28), Haven Howard (24:53), Alex Stone (26:50), Owen Frost (27:39) and Sam Norton (31:28).
The rest of the Panthers’ varsity lineup included Eliot Jones (20:52), Myers Tucker (21:10), Brandon Hair (21:34), Will Voyles (22:03), Juan Velazquez (22:22), Josiah Williams (22:49) and Jacob Gadd (23:10).
Matthew Newsom paced the Ramblers with a 20:09, followed by Mason Burkett (20:17), Trey Henderson (20:55), Beau Thrash (20:56), Noah Armstrong (20:58), William Sainthill (20:59), Bailey Romans (21:07), Devin Henderson (21:32) and R.J. Sievers (21:53).
Gordon Lee eighth grader Jake Lee won the boys’ JV race with a 21:28, followed by Gordon Lee’s Cole Collins (22:53), Ridgeland’s Bryan Crouser (23:26), LaFayette’s Todd Minor (23:27), Ridgeland’s Nathan Strickland (23:51) and Ridgeland’s Preston Perreault (23:52).
The top three in the girls’ JV race were Walker and Lowery from Gordon Lee and LaFayette’s Rylee Henderson (47:38).