Tesfaye And Trapheagen Seize Overall Wins In 5A

Athanasius Tesfaye holds on for the win (photos by Marc Logan)

Boys

It was a 3 man battle throughout the race, but Athansius Tesfaye of Logaville HS took the checkered flag at the end posting a 16:19.27 to cap off a fantastic senior season, leading the Red Devils to a 4th place team podium spot. Sr. Domonic Macias from Union Grove HS came up just a stride short of defending his 2018 individual title going 16:19.65 !! Thanks Jorge..

Gonzalez, Macias and Jones spar

Christian Gonzalez of Decatur HS established himself as the Bulldogs #1 runner in October and was in the mix throughout the race as his 3rd place overall finish sparked the Bulldogs to their first ever Boys cross country state title in school history. Forming a tight pack from 12-14 were freshman Jake Westing (17:28), team leader Eoin McNally (17:31) and Ethan Yankovich (17:37) leading a to a 25 point margin of victory. Starrs Mill ran well as pack, having a 1-5 split of :37 making the difference for a 2nd place finish in the team standings. Colton Olvey was the top Panther on this day placing 11th in 17:24. Grady claimed 3rd on the Podium behind 2 All-State performances by seniors Bram Mansbach 5th (17:06) and Kavi Jakes 8th (17:15) Rounding out the top 10 not mentioned above are: Collin Jones of Carrollton 4th (16:44), Patrick Motes from Rome 6th (17:11), Eli Hoppenfield of Riverwood 7th (17:13), William Greene of Loganville 9th (17:15) and from Statesboro HS Micah D'arcangelo 10th (17:22)

Girls

Trapheagen and Walls duel

In a dominant performance, McKenna Trapheagen of Woodland Cartersville put the pedal to the metal and motored away to her second consecutive 5A girls overall title, posting the fastest time of the day in 18:27.67 sparking her squad to a 2nd place team finish. Mackenzie Walls of Veterans HS down in central Georgia raced to runnerup honors in a fast time of 18:55. Elle Mezzio of Riverwood International sped to 3rd overall going 19:35. 

McKenna Trapheagen Overall Champ

Megan Uszynski

McIntosh successfully defended their 2018 title placing 4 athletes in the top 14 spots, including Megan Uszynski who in her senior campaign once again assumed the role of the Chiefs' top runner. She placed 4th overall Friday clocking a 19:48, with team mate Kayla Rose finishing 8th overall making the All-State squad at 20:00,  Zoe Smith was 11th (20:04) and Emily McBride 12th (20:31) 

Mackenzie Walls overall Runnerup

Katy Earwood

Elle Mezzio, Lucy Yeomans & Laney Doster

Union Grove ascended the team podium 3rd besting 4th place Starrs Mill by 8 points. Leading the Wolverines was soph Gabby Parsons in 6th overall at 19:57. Top runner for Starrs Mill was Darby Olive (who dnr at Region) having a 7th place finish of 19:58. Filling out the top 10 not on Team podium squads were: Lucy Yeomans of Clarke Central 5th (19:52), Rylee Evans of Woodland 9th (20:03) and Laney Doster of Jones County 10th (20:03)

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