XC runners prep for region meet
The LaFayette and Ridgeland cross country teams got another preview of the Region 6-4A championship course on Thursday as they competed in the Fast Break Athletics Challenge at Heritage High School.
Gabe Ashley paced the Panthers with a 17:47 to score a Top 20 finish against a solid field. Coby Voyles ran an 18:48 for Ridgeland, while Bode Tucker was close behind with an 18:59. Rounding out the Ridgeland varsity lineup was Eliot Jones (20:24), Myers Tucker (20:28), Will Voyles (20:45) and Brandon Hair (21:01).
Ridgeland placed 14th in the team standings. Dalton won with 70 points, thank in part to Adan Rodriguez’s winning time of 16:16. McCallie (83) was second and Baylor (119) took third.
Juan Velazquez (21:19), Bryan Crouser (21:50), Josiah Williams (22:20), Jacob Gadd (22:44), Preston Perreault (24:21), Dakota Dehart (25:37), McKinley Mosgrove (25:44), David Kernea (27:13), Corey Housley (27:26), Logan Couch (28:05) and Cesar Pichardo (28:33) ran in the JV race for the Panthers.
LaFayette, who placed 16th overall, was led by Mason Burkett’s 19:07. Matthew Newsom (19:34), Trey Henderson (19:59), Noah Armstrong (20:06), Devin Henderson (20:15), Johnathan Romans (20:58) and Todd Minor (21:03) rounded out the varsity lineup.
Racing in the JV event for the Ramblers were Beau Thrash (21:24), R.J. Sievers (21:27), William Sainthill (21:39), Eric Hu (22:01), Jake Price (23:56), Jacob Clarke (24:33), Sam Story (24:35), Jordan Capello (24:47), Jarrod Sitton (24:59), Mason King (27:20), Wes Ingram (27:23) and Dakota Mitchell (31:53).
The Lady Ramblers placed 14th in the girls’ varsity race as Maddie Stier clocked in a teambest 24:09, while Kaci Rogers (24:45) also broke the 25-minute mark. Also running for LaFayette was Brianna Minor (26:52), Ali Gilbreath (27:51), Hannah Elliot (30:55), Rachel Graham (31:20) and Lauren Pike (31:43).
Ridgeland got a 31:00 from Madison Morris and a 36:30 from Marina Mosgrove. The Lady Panthers did not have enough runners to qualify for the team standings.
The Baylor girls dominated and won with 37 points, followed by GPS with 61 and Heritage with an even 100. Signal Mountain standout Taylor Luthringer ran a 19:18 to beat the field by 23 seconds.
Gordon Lee did not run in Thursday’s meet.
The next scheduled meet for all three Walker County teams is the Front Runner Championships at Baylor this coming Thursday. It will be the last scheduled race before the region championships.
The Region 6-4A meet will be held at Heritage on Oct. 27, while Gordon Lee’s area meet will be at Darlington on Oct. 29. Carrollton High School will host the GHSA state meets in all classifications on Nov. 5.