3A Girls- Westminster Girls Romp, Honiotes of Hart Triumphs

 

                                                                                                    

 

Blessed Trinity started the season faster than Westminster holding onto the top spot in the Weekly Class Rankings after mid September. But with each race thereafter, Westminster began to show their fangs and depth rising above Blessed even beating top ranked 6A squads. The Lady Cats beat the Titans at every position except #1 where Mary Claire Solomon placed 2nd overall at 19:36 40 meters ahead of Westminster's 1 Delaney Graham 19:44. After that matchup it was all Westminster, as they swept the next 2 positions including a 4th place effort by Margaret Maxwell in 20:13 and 5th by Gabby Bunnell as the duo ran in tandem crossing the finish line in harmony. Westminster then proceeded to slam the door shut by also taking 8th (Carson Simon) and 11th (Lexi Elliott)  earning the Cats' 4 spots on the 3A Girls All-State squad. Which begs the question: was Charlotte Folinus injured this season?  Blessed was just too deep for any serious contention for 2nd place teamwise 53 points ahead of 3rd place Hart County who has improved greatly under Coach Cecil Marett the past 2 seasons.  Oconee County showed signs of their program's resurgence as the Girls placed 4th matching their  guys squad. . Also making All-State was Emma Rose Bagwell 10th overall for the Titans. 

 

                                                                                                                      Individual Race

 

                                                           

 

Audrey Honiotes motored her way around the tough track earning her first HS State title by taking the lead early and maintaining enough gap to ward off a serious challenge winning in 19:26. In her NFHS interview she stated some lofty goals in the future including perhaps a desire to run for schools like Stanford and Duke which means Honiotes is a hard worker and smart. After all the green in the top 10 slots were East Jackson freshman Sue Anne Moralis who finished strong in 6th place at 20:27, friendly rival Makayla Hewell 10 meters back in 20:30 and Fannin County's Kaelyn Deal 9th at 20:54.