From STAFF REPORTS

AMERICUS – The Southland Men’s Cross Country team won first place on Sept. 26 at the  Southland Academy Invitational, defeating second place Deerfield by 42 points. The other teams who participated were Brookwood, Sherwood, Trinity Christian of Dublin, Westfield, Tiftarea, Westwood, Valwood, and Twiggs Academy.
The men’s race was both a preview of the Oct. 21 region meet and a rematch of last year’s state championship in which Southland edged Trinity by three points.
Wright Calhoun finished second in the men’s individual race in 16:24, behind Trinity’s Jacob Mcleod. Billy Calcutt came in fifth place with a time of 17:35. Brian Miller finished sixth in 18:22. Ridge Roland took seventh place with a time of 18:43  and eighth grader, Gray Torbert, rounded out the team’s scorers with an eleventh-place finish in 19:19. The number six and seven runners were Ellis Ivey and Brody Shattles.
Sherwood took third in the team competition, followed by Brookwood.
In the women’s race, the Lady Raiders took second place, 31 points behind region opponent, Deerfield, and 18 points ahead of third-place Trinity.  Freshman Calyn Fort was the top finisher for the Lady Raiders, taking fifth place with a time of 21:39. Eighth grader, Ryleigh Bell, came in tenth place, finishing the race in 22:23. Sydney Hayes took twelfth-place honors in 22:41;  Paisley Greene finished sixteenth in 23:08 while Alex Exum finished twenty-second in 23:42. Lilli Dickens wrapped up the field for the Lady Raiders with a twenty-fourth-place finish in 24:05.
Deerfield senior, Virginia Moore, won the individual competition.
Up next for the varsity runners is the FSU Invitational in Tallahassee on Oct. 3.
In the middle school division, The girls took third, led by tenth-place finisher, Jadie Burrell. Betsy Turner finished fifteenth and Reese Roland finished eighteenth. The middle school boys finished sixth, led by Tanner Humphrey, who took thirteenth place and Conner Cloer in thirtieth.
The middle school runners will compete in their Region 3 meet on the afternoon of Sept. 30 at Southland Academy.
More than 275 athletes competed in the four divisions on Sept. 26.