Ringgold boys race their way to state

The Ringgold High School boys’ cross country team will have one more race left to run next month in Carrollton.

The Tigers qualified as a team for the Class 3A state meet in early November with a third-place finish at the Region 6-AAA meet at the Reseca Battlefield in Calhoun last Tuesday.

Ringgold’s 87 points put them behind only champion Coahulla Creek (19) and runner-up Calhoun (54). Sonoraville (91) got the other automatic state berth with a fourth-place finish.

Adairsville (166), Haralson County (174), LFO (192) and North Murray (206) rounded out the team standings.

Dau Dau paced the Tigers with a time of 19:18 to finish ninth overall. Kale Davis was 13th at 19:51 and Brandon Morris clocked in at 20:01 to place 16th individually. Rounding out the lineup for the Tigers was Dylan Simpson-rister (20:36), Ajack Dau (20:59), Joseph Santiago (21:51) and Jacob Sparks (22:02).

The highest finisher for LFO was Cameron Malone, who crossed the line in 20:49 to place 25th overall. Justus Brown (23:03), Blake Arrellano (23:04), Bryce Brock (23:58), Gabe Lofty (24:47), Ethan Phy (24:54) and Gauge Vaughn (24:56) completed the lineup for the Warriors.

Coahulla Creek dominated the meet with all seven runners placing in the top 10. Lane Hollis was the individual winner at 17:11 by a full 30 seconds over Calhoun’s Felipe Barrios (17:41). Coahulla Creek runners then took six of the next eight spots.

On the girls’ side, Calhoun had five in the top nine and all seven of its runners in the top 15 as they won the meet with 25 points. Coahulla Creek (45) was second, while Sonoraville (58) was third. They were the only three teams with enough runners to qualify in the team standings.

Coahulla Creek’s Kaylee Bandy won the individual title in a time of 20:44, beating Calhoun’s Ashley Hartness by over 90 seconds.

Elli Grace Roy ran a 25:34 for Ringgold to finish 12th overall. Regan Pitts was one spot behind her with a 25:40. Riley Poe finished 18th overall at 27:34 and Baylee Robenolt rounded out the allfreshmen lineup for the Lady Tigers at 36:31.

Shaili Patel finished 24th for LFO as she outleaned teammate Cvetanka Pasinechka at the tape. Both runners were given the time of 31:27, while Maribel Lopez ran a 34:35 for the Lady Warriors.