From STAFF REPORTS

LEESBURG – Over 25 members of the Furlow Charter School (FCS) Falcons middle school and high school cross country (XC) teams joined Southland Academy’s XC crews to hit the road for Lee County High School in Leesburg on Sept. 10.
Competing against hundreds of runners from all over South Georgia on Sept. 10, the teams took on host, Lee County, and other large school cross country programs from Valdosta, Thomasville, Bainbridge Albany, Tifton and more in the Lee County Cross Country Invitational.
With five runners in the top 25, the Lady Raiders took the overall team title, 21 points ahead of runner up, Tift County, and 25 points ahead of the host school.
Freshman, Ryleigh Bell, led the way once again with a seventh place finish with a time of 22:27, followed by Calyn Fort in ninth place, then a pack led by Sydney Hayes (21st), Lilli Dickens (22nd) and Alex Exum (24th).
Miranda Green led the way for the FCS high school girls, finishing in 27:53.
153 runners finished the race.
With three season meets under their belts so far, the Lady Raiders have yet to lose to a team from the state of Georgia.
Not to be outdone, the middle school Lady Raiders took the course later in the morning and also grabbed the team championship, edging fellow GISA member, Valwood School, by seven points. Southland’s Jadie Burrell covered the two-mile course in 13:37 and was the meet runner-up. Elizabeth Law took 10th place while Reese Roland and Georgia Torbert took 12th and 13th, respectively, for Southland. Brooke Wiesner was the number-five runner for the Lady Raiders, finishing 21st. Other runners who competed were: Macie Deriso (73rd), Talyn Mccumber (77th), Lauren Duke (79th), Taylor Ragsdale (86th), Ella Arnold (100th) and Eva Grace Studdard (123rd). 14 teams and 142 runners finished the race.
For the Furlow Falcons, Maya Wynn finished sixth in the middle school girls’ race with a time of 14:01.

In the middle school boys’ two-mile event, Southland’s Max Foster took seventh place in 12:42, leading the Raiders to a 12th place finish. Southland’s Fisher Britt came in 33rd, followed by Matthew Peck (135th), Noah Sheff (145th), Lee Grafft (148th), Chet Toms (156th), and Will Godwin (178th).
Ryley Herron set the bar for the Furlow Falcons, completing the race in 13:47 for a 23rd-place finish.
199 runners finished the middle school boys’ race.
With Foster in the middle school race, and two more runners out with illness and injury, the Southland varsity men took the course with only six runners.
Billy Calcutt came in sixth place in the field of 200 runners to lead the team to a ninth-place finish out of 20 teams, nine points ahead of Westover.
Gray Torbert was 30th, followed by Brinson Hubbard (49th), Zach Calcutt (86th), Harrison Bell (104th), and Joseph Cabrera (190th).
FCS’ Jesse Salazar set the pace for the FCS runners, finishing in 20:53 for a 45th-place finish.
Valdosta won the men’s team title.
The Raiders’ and Lady Raiders’ middle school teams return to action Sept. 14, when Southland hosts the middle school challenge. Then, all four Southland teams will compete on Sept 24 at the Deerfield Invitational.