Middle School Cross Country: Eighteen school represented at Heritage meet
Heritage Middle School hosted its biggest-ever cross country meet this past Tuesday as 467 runners (285 boys, 182 girls) representing 18 schools in Georgia and Tennessee took on the 2-mile course.
The home-schooled Chattanooga Patriots won the girls’ meet with 31 points, followed by Heritage with 78 points and Baylor with 114. The rest of the standings included Westside, GPS, Eastbrook, Dade County, New Hope, North Whitfield, Ringgold, Valley Point, Saddle Ridge and Rossville.
Sarah J. Burnette, running unattached, won the individual girls’ title with a time of 12:13, while Westside’s Kaylee Bandy was the runner-up (12:37).
Gracie Murray was the top finisher for Heritage as she placed 10th with a time of 13:37. Haynie Gilstrap led Saddle Ridge, clocking in at 14:51 to finish 25th, while Rossville’s Isabelle McGill was 26th (14:55). Lakeview runner Katie Bono was 30th (15:09).
Other top runners from other local schools were Ringgold’s Sara Collins (16:10) and LaFayette’s Sidnee Regal (22:07).
On the boys’ side, North Whitfield’s Beau Goodwin crossed the line first in a time of 11:24, just two seconds ahead of Grayson Kennedy of the Chattanooga Patriots (11:26). Gavin Chandler of Heritage placed eighth overall, clocking in at 12:05, while Ringgold’s Brent Bowman was 16th (12:30).
Other top runners included LaFayette’s Preston Alexander (13:19), Lakeview’s Chris Wehunt (13:32), Saddle Ridge’s Jacob Hamilton (13:35) and Rossville’s Camron Farmer (15:15).
In the team standings, Baylor took the top spot with 61 points, followed by McCallie (81), the Chattanooga Patriots (95) and Heritage. The rest of the standings were filled out by North Whitfield, New Hope, Westside, Eastbrook, Ringgold, Valley Point, Dade County, LaFayette, Saddle Ridge, Trion, Lakeview and Rossville.
The first NGAC cross country championships will be held at Heritage on Tuesday, Oct. 3.