Etowah & Marist dual at the 19th Annual Invitational at Boling Park
Varsity Girls
Morgan Ilse of Marist Sailed to an 18:14 winning Girls Overall Images by Nelson Wilkinson
The War Eagles of Marist (#1 All-Class) fought off a stiff challenge from the Eagles of Etowah (#3 All-Class) as the meet win came down to each teams 6th runner as the meet score was a tie! (52-52) Etowah had their 5 scorers in before Marist but after the dust settled it was the 6th runners that broke the tie with Marist’s Morgan Geurts finishing ahead of Etowah’s Jaylin Lucier by 5 spots. The Eagles of Milton (#10 AAAAAA) were a distant 3rd (137 pts) but snagged the final trophy spot by 1 point over South Forsyth (#13 AAAAAA) (4th-138 pts). 27 schools scored in the meet.
The ideal weather conditions and flat/fast & dry course produced some of the fastest times of the season as Marist junior Morgan Ilse ran upfront the entire way and steadily pulled away from Fellowship Christian’s sophomore Emma Grace Hurley to win comfortably in 18:14. Gurley would eventually be passed by South Forsyth’s sophomore Savannah Carnahan who would garner the runner up spot in 18:46. Gurley settled for third (19:00).
Varsity Boys
Kell's Logan Poteet pulled away the final 600 meters for the Boys Overall in 15:39 Images by Nelson Wilkinson
Round 2 of the Etowah-Marist Duel did not disappoint as the War Eagles (#15 All-Class) put 4 runners in the top-12 to hold off a very talented group from Etowah (#5 All-Class) as Marist bested Etowah by a score of 95-98! The Marist senior duo of Michael Thurston & Daniel Navarro led the field on the fast “3-looper” and look certain for a 1-2 finish with Alex Dunlap of Kennesaw Mountain along for the ride when Kell junior Logan Poteet, who started very conservatively, made his way through the top part of the field to eventually pass Thurston & Navarro just by the two-mile mark and then pulled away in the last 600 meters to a 10-second win (15:39). Thurston (2nd-15:49) & Navarro (3rd-16:02) followed with Dunlap next (4th-16:11). With Marist having it’s 4 runners in the top-12 spots, that was just enough to hold off the big pack running team of Etowah. The Hornets of Roswell were a solid 3rd with 115 pts led by Drew Kelley’s 16th place finish in 16:41.
Complete Coverage and Results
Featured Photo Gallery by Nelson Wilkinson
Meet Preview by Coach Andy Carr