The school of the week is Rome Middle School.
2019 Middle School Cross Country State Meet
The Rome Middle School Cross Country team traveled to Bleckley County to compete in the Georgia Middle School State Championships. 24 athletes doned the Rome uniform in the Large School Division JV and Varsity races.
The Boys JV team placed 5th overall with Clay Sabino [6] and Brendan Strickland [8] earning Top 25 honors in a field of 155 runners. Joining them was EJ Oliver [6], Jacob Slocum [7], and Slade Wright [8], all finishing in the top third of the race. On the girls side, Kyleigh Adams [6] would cross the line in 6th place out of 129 competitors. Her teammates were Estefania Serrano [7], Shakira Funez [8], and Dulce Lopez [7] again finishing ahead of half of the field.
The next race had 228 runners from over 30 schools. Rome’s Varsity Boys would finish 7th overall with Joshua Hernandez [8] leading the pack placing 12th. Following him were teammates Deigo Colacho [8], Tristan Slocum [8], John Glick [8], Andy Martinez [8], Andrew Loveman [8], and Danilo Nolasco [8] all finishing in the Top 100 in a highly competitive, large field. The Varsity Girls would close out the meet, earning a 10th place finish out of 27 scored teams. Natalia Jones [6] would be Rome’s first finisher placing 51 out of 214 runners. Not far behind was Sophie Clowdus [8]. Christionna Maxwell [8], Sophia Ahumada [6], Cordie Clark [6], Lizvel Espino [7] and Katelyn Cisneros [8] would round out the girls team all finishing in the top half of the competition.
“We came to state looking to gain some experience. Our expectations were far exceeded as each athlete put forth a great effort. We are very young on our girls side and wanted to use this opportunity to familiarize them with the state level atmosphere. The addition of 6th graders in our Cross Country program this year has been a HUGE asset. We are extremely excited about what these girls are going to achieve in the coming years. So many of our boys will move on to high school next year, but we know there is talent in our elementary schools ready to fill their shoes in a big way.”
Many of the 8th grade athletes will continue their cross country season and be given the opportunity to compete at the 7AAAAA Region Championship JV race held at Woodland High School on October 24th.