Heritage sweeps team titles in LaFayette
Cross country teams from six local schools met at LaFayette High School on Tuesday and it was the host Lady Ramblers taking the team win in the girls’ varsity race.
LaFayette finished with 29 points to edge out Heritage (31) for the top spot. Ringgold (68) was third, while Dade County had just two runners compete and did not have enough to qualify for team scoring.
However, the Lady Wolverines did have the overall winner in freshman Anna Ballard, who crossed the line in 20:34. Emma Stinnett finished in 33:58.
LaFayette was led by Madison Todd, who placed third overall at 22:37. Haynie Gilstrap, racing for the first time all season after the Lady Ramblers’ softball game was rained out, placed fifth with a 23:20, followed by Dakota Tabor (23:59) in sixth and Brittany Aguero (24:21) in seventh.
Natalie Ball (26:02), Bianca Rogers (26:41) and Alethea Hendrix (26:53) placed 13th, 14th and 15th, respectively for the Lady Ramblers.
Allison Craft was the individual runner-up at 21:15 and Mia Callahan was fourth with a new PR at 22:44. Mady Terry (24:22) was seventh and Allie Mifflin (24:49) placed ninth to give the Lady Generals four runners in the top 10.
Also running for Heritage was 12th place Lila Langston (26:01), 18th place Lily Langston (28:11) and 19th place Gracey McCoy (28:45). Terry, Mifflin and McCoy joined Callahan in turning in seasonbest times.
The Lady Tigers were led by a 24:41 from ninth place Riley Poe and a 25:32 from 11th place Reagan Pitts. Ava Keener (27:03) and Anna Roy (28:09) finished 16th and 17th, respectively, while Baylee Robenolt (30:47) was 20th overall.
In the JV girls’ race, Gordon Lee’s Haley Hartman (25:09) and Cora Fehr (25:20) finished first and second, respectively. LaFayette was represented by third place Natashia Cooper (28:41), sixth place Addison Hurst (29:15) and eighth place Olivia Cornejo (35:36).
The rest of the JV race was filled out by runners from LFO. Kinsey Whitefield (29:06) was fourth overall and Sam Miller (29:06) was fifth. Maribel Lopez (33:21) placed seventh, while the last two spots in the top 10 were taken by Kayln Whitefield (38:29) and Kaitlyn Wallace (39:03).
Boys’ team honors went to Heritage, who finished with 26 points. Dade County and Ringgold (66) tied for second, while LaFayette (67) was a close fourth.
The Generals put all six runners in the top 15 of the varsity race, led by race winner Gavin Chandler, who clocked in with seasonbest 17:19. Davis Justice (18:45) was fourth, Collin Black (18:58) was sixth, Cecil Bussey (19:03) was seventh and Jake Krajesky (19:05) was eighth. Justice, Black, Bussey and Krajesky had seasonbest times, while Black, Bussey and Krajesky also recorded new PR’s.
Also racing for Heritage was 12th place Steven Burchard (19:29) and 16th place Griffin Black (20:28). Both set season-best times, while Black’s time was a new PR.
Chandler Bailey was third overall for Dade County with an 18:31, while the rest of the Wolverines’ lineup included Noah Hodges (19:12), Jack Dupree (19:59), Caleb Stinnett (20:38), Kade Pardue (20:54), Justin Castleberry (21:22) and Daniel Goff (21:32).
Kale Davis was fifth overall for Ringgold with an 18:48, while Brandon Morris was 11th with a 19:22. Ty Williams (20:03) was 15th, Gavin Simpson-Rister (20:35) was 17th and Ayden Rowland (20:37) placed 18th.
LaFayette got a 17:57 from Tucker Henderson, who was the overall runner-up, and a 10th place showing from Josh Perea, who crossed the line in 19:22. Steven Sanford (19:50) was 13th and Dylan Ballew (20:49) was 20th, while Jacob Hamilton (20:55) and Crandale Jackson (21:56) also ran for the Ramblers in the varsity race.
LFO got a 21:57 from Ishmael Johnson, a 22:07 from Josh Faulk and a 22:19 from Cameron Malone, but did not have enough runners to compete for the team title.
The boys’ JV race was won by Gordon Lee’s Jake Lee with an 18:32. Carson Carpenter (20:30) was fourth and Carter Pullen (20:36) was fifth, while the rest of the Trojans’ roster featured Cody McCutcheon (21:59), Carter Ball (24:47) and
Aiden Goodwin (28:08).
Five Heritage runners placed in the top 10. Ryan Walker (19:35) was second and Will Waldrop (20:13) was third, while Landon Albright (20:45), Juan Martinez (21:18) and Isaiah Bryant (21:37) placed sixth, eighth and ninth, respectively. Grayson Stallings (21:44) and Gabriel Leal (23:40) also ran for the Generals.
The Heritage coaches also reported that Walker, Waldrop, Albright, Martinez, Stallings and Leal had season-best times, while Walker and Albright set new PR’s.
Jacob Leon was seventh for the Tigers in 21:14, while the rest of the JV lineup for Ringgold included Maddux Maynor (23:24), Jackson Brumfield (23:24), Harris Velic (24:50), Andy Lay (25:03) and Blake Davidson (29:35).
The final spot in the JV top 10 went to Caden Hinton of LaFayette, who came in with a time of 21:43. Also running for the Ramblers was Alex Hollaway (21:53), Nathan Ball (22:11), Scott Sanford (22:35), Gage Henderson (24:38), Jacob Gilbreath (26:43) and Eli Prince (33:22).
Racing for LFO was Emmanuel Costelow (25:02), Jacob Sanchez (26:36), Gabe Lofty (26:59), Eric Hughes (26:59), Zach Heinrich (27:19), Evan Radcliff (30:06) and Abram Creswell (31:02).
Javier Mayo (21:44) and Aiden Clark (23:25) ran for Dade County.