Furman Classic lives up to its Name, Ga Runners Shine
Varsity Boys
Four of Georgia’s top ranked runners toed the line for the high school boys race – Christian Bowles, Reilly Friedman, Daniel Glick and Kaleb McLeod, and they did not disappoint. Up against one of the top runners in North Carolina, Tanis Baldwin, and several other high calibre athletes from Tennessee and South Carolina, the Georgia athletes fared very well. Through the first mile the lead pack included Friedman, Glick, Bowles and McLeod along with Baldwin and Dartanian Oakley from Hardin Valley. This pack stretched out during the final mile as Friedman and Baldwin pulled away. Having finished second here last year, Friedman was not to be denied and pulled away in the final half mile - winning with an impressive time of 15:39, 15 seconds ahead of the runner-up Baldwin. The rest of the Georgia contingent was solid with Bowles coming in third (16:21); Glick in fourth (16:25), sophomore Allen Clark of Lakeside Evans in sixth (16:40), McLeod in eighth (16:49) and the duo from North Hall, Quintin Miles and Corson Teasley, finishing in ninth (16:52) and tenth (16:59) respectively. If you are counting that’s 7 Georgia runners in the top 10!
On the team scores, Hardin Valley proved too tough to beat placing 5 runners in the top 21 finishers. However, Lakeside Evans and North Hall were impressive taking the second and third podium spots, respectively, ahead of strong teams from South Mecklenburg, J.L. Mann and Wautauga. Hats off to the boys from Georgia!
Varsity Girls
While the girls from Georgia were not as conspicuous in the top finishers of their race, facing stiff competition from perennial powerhouses Providence from South Carolina and Hardin Valley from Tennessee, overall they did quite well. North Hall’s Makayla Ellis finished in 8th (20:06) just ahead of Lakeside Evans’ sophomore Alyssa Hooker in ninth (20:09) while Dunwoody’s top two finishers, junior Ansley Heavern and freshman Samantha Cameron came in 13th (20:48) and 14th (20:58). Overall, the Dunwoody girls were strong enough to take the third podium spot, while North Hall came in 4th and Lakeside, Evans came in 7th. Again, a very good showing from the Peach State!