Heritage brings in large field for 5-Star Stride meet
A total of 24 schools, from Marietta all the way north to Benton and Ooltewah, Tenn. converged at Heritage High School on Saturday morning for the 5-Star Stride, the first North Georgia Cross Country League meet of the 2020 season.
In the end, it was bigger schools from Georgia leading the way. Sequoyah High School won the girls’ team title with 63 points, narrowly beating out River Ridge (65) and Dalton (69). Host Heritage finished in a respectable sixth place. Ringgold was ninth and LaFayette ended up in 12th place in the team standings.
Senior standout Allison Craft, the 2019 Catoosa County Girls’ Runner of the Year, finished eighth overall and paced the Lady Generals with a time of 22:18. The rest of the Heritage varsity lineup included Mia Callahan (24:38), Alexis Faul (25:17), Lyla Langston (25:57), Mady Terry (26:46), Lily Langston (27:27) and Allie Mifflin (27:59).
Ringgold, starting four sophomores and two freshman, earned a top 10 placement as Elli Grace Roy and Reagan Pitts both crossed the line in 26:03. Riley Poe (27:01), Anna Roy (28:13), Ava Keener (28:15) and Baylee Robenolt (35:18) also ran for the Lady Tigers.
For the Lady Ramblers, newcomers Madison Todd (26:00) and Dakota Tabor (27:58) had the fastest times for the team, while Brittany Aguero (29:22), Natalie Ball (31:01) and Bianca Rogers (34:13) rounded things out.
Gordon Lee had just three runners compete, not enough to register a team score. Haley Hartman led the Lady Trojans with a 25:33, followed by Cora Fehr (26:13) and Olivia Rodgers (30:46).
Gordon Lee eighth grader Isabella Rodgers was the top local finisher in the girls’ JV race. She clocked in at 30:59 to place 28th overall.
River Ridge took the boys’ team title with 86 points, followed by Sequoyah (88) and Marietta (94). Heritage placed ninth in the standings. Ringgold was 14th and LaFayette was 15th, while Gordon Lee had just three runners and did not qualify for any team awards.
Gavin Chandler, last year’s Boys’ Runner of the Year in Catoosa County, led Heritage with a 17:38, good for eighth place. Cecil Bussey (19:46), Davis Justice (21:03), Steven Burchard (21:08), Griffin Black (21:20), Collin Black (21:21) and Gauge Sartin (21:53) also raced for Heritage in the varsity meet.
Ever-improving Ringgold got a team-best 20:13 from Kale Davis, while Ty Williams (20:17), Brandon Morris (21:35), Ayden Rowland (21:39), Jacob Sparks (21:54), Gavin Simpson-Rister (21:55) and Chandler Ridings (22:52) also competed for the Blueand-White.
As for LaFayette, freshman Tucker Henderson set the pace with a 19:26 in his first-ever prep race, while another freshman, Jacob Hamilton, was second-best at 21:07. Also running for the Ramblers were Josh Perea (21:17), Steven Sanford (21:45), Crandale Jackson (23:04) and Gage Henderson (29:46).
Jake Lee ran a 19:50 for the Trojans, followed by Carson Carpenter (21:12) and Cody McCutcheon (22:02).
As for the JV runners, top local finishers included Heritage’s Jake Krajesky in third place overall (20:08) and teammate Juan Martinez (23:13), who placed in the top 25 (23rd overall).
River Ridge’s Ciara Miles (20:25) beat her teammate Cayden Crismon (20:31) for the overall varsity girls’ title, while Notre Dame’s Sophie Welch (21:17) was third.
Top honors in the boys’ varsity race went to Coahulla Creek senior Lane Hollis with a 16:43. Eli Corn of East Paulding was second (17:01) and Sequoyah’s Josh Helms was third (17:17).
Nearly 400 runners competed in Saturday’s races.