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From Staff Reports

 

CARROLLTON, GA – The Schley County High School boys cross country team (SC) very nearly took home another state title, but had to settle for being the state runners-up at the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Class A-Public state meet held Saturday, November 2, in Carrollton, GA.

The Commerce Tigers (CHS) took the boys’ team championship by scoring just 38 points, followed by the second-place Wildcats with 91. The Wildcats barely beat out Lake Oconee Academy for second place by just one point. In cross country, the team with the lowest amount of points wins.

SC junior David Williams finished in third place out of 111 competitors in a time of 18:14.36. Williams was bested only by two CHS runners. CHS senior Demarco Hernandez was the state runner-up (17:34.82) and his teammate, junior Brandon Martin, took home the individual state title by running in a time of 17:02.85.

The next three SC runners to cross the finish line all came in almost simultaneously. Junior Aaron Pinckard finished in 20^th place out of 111 competitors in a time of 19:38.15. His teammate, senior Daniel Iordanov, finished right behind Pinckard in a time of 19:40.32. Sophomore Dustin Howard came in right behind Iordanov in a time of 19:49.80.

Junior John Lightner finished 29^th out of 111 competitors in a time of 20:02.74 and senior Peter Horton closed out his fine career by finishing 43^rd out of 111 competitors. Horton crossed the line in a time of 20:44.39.

Junior Tucker Welch was the next Wildcat to cross the finish line. Welch turned in a solid performance by finishing in a time of 21:04.60.

The Lady Wildcats also turned in a strong finish in the girls’ Class A-Public state meet. As a team, SCHS finished in 12^th place with 291 points. They finished just 13 points behind their Region 4-A rivals Hawkinsville (278). ACE Charter won the team state championship with just 70 points.

The first Lady Wildcat to cross the finish line was sophomore Grace Hardage. Hardage finished 42^nd out of 106 competitors in a time of 27:05.63. The next Lady Wildcat to cross was sophomore Maria Zamora. Zamora turned in a strong performance to end the season by finishing in a time of 28:30.21. Sophomore Kaia MacLennan finished strong as she crossed the line in a time of 29:12.15. Other Lady Wildcats who turned in stellar performances at the state meet were junior Lilly Bacon (30:59.78), senior Zoe Bell (33:03.01) and sophomore Holly Rogers (36:21.36).