Sudderth/Tribble's Troops Attack the State Course for Title
The Cats were in unfamiliar territory Saturday with the exception of lone returner William Barber. None of these new recruits had ever came under fire on the State stage. But, that's what great programs do year in and out is take raw talent and mould them into champions and this season proved to just be another example of that. Westminster worked their way through runners after Mile 1 to easily dispatch the field placing all 5 scorers within the top 14 positions scoring 40 points. Barber challenged for the lead upfront nearly the entire race before dropping back to 5th to lead the Cats in 16:46. Eating up positions 9-11 were Spencer Nash, Jake Candler and John Lambert with Cody Tedesco closing out the scorers in 14th. East Jackson has come a long way in their short existence and ran an inspired race taking the runnerup spot on the Podium in a mild upset over #2 ranked Lovett. they placed 3 runners in the top 20 led by Kevin Kessler's 12th place 17:33, Josh Kesler in 17:45 and Terry Minter in 17:49. Lovett ran well enough to secure the 3rd spot in the team race with 123 points led by Parker Whitlock's 8th place overall finish in 17:15.82. The Titans of North Oconee had their highest finish in school history falling just short of Lovett with 125 points for a strong 4th place. Tripp Hurt led the race going into the 2nd loop and held on for 3rd overall in 16:37. Ian Wraga charged down the homestretch passing 3 runners within 15 meters of the wire for a sound 6th place in 17:15.02.
"Leonel! Leonel! Leonel!", chanted his teamates after an excting finish to the 2A Individual race. Leonel Ayala of Cross Keys got on the radar early in the season on gatfxc.com with a nice run at the Kosh Classic. Many though were unaware of his talent until the Region 6-AA meet. Ayala ran a wonderful race charging each hill and the duel that he and defending champ Ian Edwards had the final 800 meters will be remembered. Edwards ran near the front the entire race finally taking the lead into the 2nd loop. He and Ayala then both put it into overdrive and hit the pedal breaking away from the chase pack making it a 2 man race. Running side by side crossing the street for the last time, Ayala made a move maintaining a 2 stride lead then boldly lowered his head charging up the final hill extending his lead to 10 meters heading down the fast downhill finish. Edwards dug in deep and displayed another gear he did not have in 08' closing the gap, but it was too late as Ayala was the new champion in 16:22, Edwards pr'd by :25 from 08' so he did not have a bad race, it was just Ayala's day. David Daniel came from way down south (Thomasville) had a and had a great race mixing it up with the leaders until Ayala and Edwards broke loose and placed 4th in 16:44. Also having the race of his life was Oglethorpe County's Josh Holloway who qualified as an individual placing 7th with a 17:15.57.
Lady Cats Dominant Placing 5 Runners on the All-State Squad
Westminster began their campaign as usual starting very slowing and by October becoming more formidable with every race. Lovett had the better of them in September as the Lady Cats never ran at full strength in their 2 meetings. But Coach Eubanks turned them loose at Last Chance and with all the pieces in the puzzle together they became the favorite, especially following their resounding 6-AA victory. Though separate entities, the XC programs at Westminster train for 1 meet all season and that is the State meet. Come Saturday, Sahara Fletcher nearly disapeared from view of the chase pack as she crossed the finish line 1st in 19:04 taking home her 1st GHSA title. Soon to follow were teamates Parker Rhodes in 2nd at 19:47, Elisabeth Powell in 4th place with a 19:53.13, Catherine Smith 7th in 19:59 and closing out the scoring was Sarah Lynn Been taking 9th place in 20:10. When the dust had settled only 23 points were on the board and the Lady Cats were back on top. Lovett ran a strong 2nd scoring 64 points and were led by Elizabeth Rucker's 6th place effort in 19:54 as well as Alexandra Horst's 11th place finish in 20:16 followed by Emmala Moffett in 19:22. Blessed Trinity placed all 5 scorers in the top 30 to secure 3rd palce and were sparked by the 15th place effort of Kate Beecham who clocked a 20:49. Dawson County may have made school history with their highest finish in recent history placing 4th in the Team scoring led by the stalwart effort of frontrunner Maddy Waters who placed 5th overall in 19:53.88.
Individually Sahara Fletcher motored away early and ran nearly alone the final 2 miles and one has to wonder what she was capable of if she had competed Saturday in perhaps the 5A race. The real race within a race was for 2nd place and Parker Rhodes created some separation the final 800 meters to claim that spot. Rebecca Greenwall had fallen back into 7th after being in the forefront of the chase pack most of the race, but she had one last mad surge down the finish hill passing 3 runners in the final 20 meters to grab 3rd in 19:52.77. Rachel Greenwall had nearly an identical finish sitting back in 10th as she blazed past 2 runners very late to finish 8th in 20:04. Rounding out the top 10 was Abigail Mistretta from GAC as she had a nice race in 20:12. Oh, and don't feel too sorry for Westminster as they return 5 of their top 7 including Fletcher and Rhodes.