Region 4-AAAAA: Union Grove Gals Dominant and McIntosh Boys Seize the Day!

Varsity Boys Lead Pack gets it on early at Region 4-AAAAA (pic by Dave Bowers)

In what was by far the most competitive Region meet of the day, as well as Carrollton Last Chance, 4 of the top 7 ranked AAAAA Girls squads and 3 of the top 9 Boys squads let it all hang out at the beautiful Heritage Christian Church course this morning. The Varsity runners definitely had cooler temps, but prs were being achieved by many in every race. Starrs Mill put on a great race and their Volunteers were first class.

The duo of Connor Koscevic (L) & Connor Reynolds led McIntosh to the team title. (pic by Dave Bowers)

Boys Varsity- This was a showdown of who was the best in Fayette County as well as 4-AAAAA. McIntosh came out on top winning by 6 points as the Chiefs placed 5 guys in the top 13 spots (1-5 Split of :25) making the difference.

Jaeger, Bowers and Wilson of McIntosh seal the deal for the Chiefs (pic by Dave Bowers)

Leading the ambush for McIntosh were soph Connor Koscevic taking 5th place in 16:28 and Sr Conner Reynolds 6th at 16:32. Frosh Zach Jaeger came up big in 10th ( 16:49), Alan Bowers 12th (16:51) and Alexander Wilson 13th (16:53)

Freshman Harrison Fultz was full bore for the Panthers winning the Overall title in 16:16 (pic by John Fertig)

Starrs Mill's runnerup team finish was led by a pair of frosh including Overall Champion Harrison Fultz, as he had the race of his life on his home course going 16:16 for the win.

Nick Nyman was pumped as well for the Panthers, taking 7th at 16:36 and Jr Joshua Tysor was 9th in 16:47. (pic by John Fertig)

Hayden Hasberger (189) of Northgate was 2nd Overall in 16:22 (pic by Dave Bowers)

Northgate and Union Grove claimed the final 2 tickets to Carrollton in 2 weeks. Northgate snuck 2 harriers in the top 10 including Overall runnerup soph Hayden Hasberger with a sweet 16:22 and Sr Andrew Tuttle back in 8th at 16:45. Union Grove Jr Matt Seitz led the Wolverines attack placing 11th in 16:50.

Cameron Pack from Morrow (151) and to his right, Deonte Lee from Ola are headed to State as Individuals (pic by Bruce Taylor)

Having great races for their schools and punching as Individuals were Deonte Lee from Ola HS in 3rd going 16:23 and Cameron Pack of Morrow a few steps back in 4th at 16:25. Congrats to all the State Qualifiers!

Ellunde Montgomery led Union Grove to the Girls Team title placing 2nd (pic by Bruce Taylor)

Girls Varsity- Union Grove was ranked 2nd coming into the meet and proved their mettle, easily winning the Girls Region championship scoring 30 points as their top 5 all finished in the top 10 places. Sr Ellunde Montgomery led the pack on this day racing to 2nd Overall in 19:05 with frosh running mate Mackenzie Cromer a stride back in 3rd at 19:06.

Frosh Mackenzie Cromer focuses on the leaders enroute to 3rd Overall for Union Grove. (pic by Bruce Taylor)

Shoring up the Wolverines title effort were Juniors Kaylee Haake 7th (19:51), Tori Rlves 8th (20:02) and katy Gwaltney 10th (20:10) Union Grove will have 2 weeks to prepare to clash head on at State with defending champ Dunwoody, who rested their top 5 today at Region 6-AAAAA, though cruised away with the title. Be there!

Sophomore Mary Valli from Starrs Mill wins the Overall title leading the Panthers to 2nd as a team (pic by John Fertig)

Starrs Mill got a little payback on McIntosh in the girls race securing 2nd teamwise by 6 points. Giving the host school's fans something to celebrate was soph Mary Valli as she overtook the leader on the 2nd loop and pulled away down the final stretch winning the Overall title in 18:58. Sr Sophie Handel was key placing 5th in 19:26.

Alyssa LeClaire led the first loop and hung on for 4th Overall for McIntosh.(pic by Bruce Taylor)

McIntosh was led by Alyssa LeClaire (who led beginning the 2nd lake loop) as she hung on tough for 4th in 19:08. Northgate punched the final team pass to state easily taking 4th led by the top 10 finishes of Elise Glorvigen 6th (19:49) and Caroline Nelson 9th (20:07) Congrats to all the State Qualifiers!

Elise Glorvigen (186) leads Sophie Handel of Starrs Mill (290) (pic by John Fertig)

Josh Bowers (85) took 2nd in the JV Boys race. Will Dearman of Starrs Mill (276) placed 5th (pic by Dave Bowers)

Boys JV- Running for pride, and perhaps reserve duty at State were the JV Boys. McIntosh nearly perfect scored the sweeping the top 4 spots led by a solid 17:12 effort by Sr Brian Doyle, Joshua Bowers in 2nd (17:21) and Vladimir Zander-Velloso in 3rd (17:28) Starrs Mill took 2nd place JV Boys team honors.

Girls JV- 8th graders dominated this JV race. It was a close race for JV Girls team honors, with host Starrs Mill taking the win by 3 points over Varsity champ Union Grove. 8th grader Kalkidan Hawkins of Union Grove MS won the overall race in a solid time of 21:09 as she nipped Starrs Mill bound 8th grader Rainey Walker by less than a tick (21:10). Taking 3rd overall also from Starrs was frosh Hikari Akeda in 21:33.

AWARDS PICS

Top 3 Boys Varsity Teams (L-R) Northgate, Starrs Mill and McIntosh. (pic by John Fertig)

Top 20 Varsity Boys Medalists (pic by John Fertig)

Top 4 Girls Varsity Teams (L-R) Northgate, McIntosh, Starrs Mill and Union Grove. (pic by John Fertig)

Top 20 Girls Varsity Medalists (pic by John Fertig)

COMPLETE COVERAGE

PHOTO GALLERY

ELITE PERFORMANCES-

Below are the performances entered for the meet that met the national silver standard.

11 National Elites. 31 Elites.