Local high school and middle school runners turn in strong performances at Southland Raider Run

Published 10:07 pm Monday, October 19, 2020

From Staff Reports

 

 

AMERICUS – Several high school and middle school girls and boys XC (cross Country) runners turned in solid performances at the Southland Raider Run held on Saturday morning, October 17, at Southland Academy.

All of the runners’ individual times and the team placements can be found at www.ga.milesplit.com.

In the high school boys’ race, the Schley County Wildcats (SCHS) were the meet runners-up, as they finished in second place behind meet champions Lee County.

The Furlow Charter boys’ team ended up finishing in sixth place in the meet.

SCHS senior David Williams nearly won the boys’ individual championship. Williams finished in second place in a time of 17:09.50 and was barely edged out by the race winner, Mason Harris of Wilcox County (17:07.80).

The Southland Academy middle school boys’ Cross Country Team finished in third place at the Southland Raider Run this past Saturday. L-R: Colton Crawford, Ryan Peck, William Kinney, Peyton Gilbert, Jase Peterson, Shaw Pinnell
Back: Matteson Debaise.
Photo by Beth Kinney

Williams’ teammate, senior Aaron Pinckard, finished in fifth place in a time of 18:20.50. Right behind Pinckard was Furlow Charter’s (FC) first finisher Edwin Gonzalez. The FC sophomore crossed the finish line in sixth place with a time of 18:24.30.

The next local runner to cross the finish line was SCHS junior Dustin Howard. Howard finished just outside the top 10 in 11th place with a time of 18:54.10.

The first Americus-Sumter (ASHS) runner to cross the finish line was junior Griffin Toms. Toms finished the race in 20th place out of 90 competitors in a time of 19:25.80. Right behind Toms came Southland Academy’s (SAR) first athlete to cross. SAR freshman Noah Sheff crossed the finish line in a time of 19:31.40.

Schley County senior David Williams finished as the runner up in the high school boys’ race in the Southland Raider Run. Williams finished in second place in a time of 17:09.50.
ATR Archive

The next local runner to cross was SCHS senior John Lightner. Lightner finished the race in a time of 19:43.80. Lightner’s teammate, sophomore Eli Bacon, crossed the line in 31st place in a time of 20:31.70.

The next FC Falcon to cross the finish line was senior David Lane. Lane finished the race in a time of 22:29.80. SCHS senior Caleb Smith finished right behind Lane in a time of 22:31.10.

SAR freshman Lee Graft was the next local runner to cross. Graft finished the meet in a time of 23:04.80. Other local high school boys’ runners that turned in strong performances in this race included ASHS junior James Blaisdadell Ndaayezwi (23:48.60), FC sophomore Apollo Huss (24:20.50), FC senior Ashton Crowe (25:01.40), ASHS senior Sames Shopendavis (26:21.90) and FC senior Cody Arizmendi (27:18.60).

On the high school girls’ side, the Furlow Charter girls’ squad turned in an outstanding performance by finishing in third place with 128 points. The Lady Raiders of Southland Academy finished in sixth place with 140 points and the Americus-Sumter Lady Panthers turned in a ninth-place finish with 206 points. The Schley County girls’ squad finished in 10th place with 216 points. In the sport of XC (cross country), the team goal is to finish with the fewest points possible.

Furlow Charter sophomore Edwin Gonzalez (middle) finished in sixth place with a time of 18:24.30 at the Southland Raider Run.
Photo by Beth Kinney

As far as individual performances were concerned, FC senior Maya Wynn once again turned in a top-notch performance. Wynn finished the race in third place in a time of 21:40.80. Allie Brown of Crisp Academy won the high school girls’ race in a time of 19:50.70.

The next local runner to cross the finish line was SAR junior Jadie Burrell. Burrell finished in 10th place in a time of 22:59.20. The next local runner to cross was FC freshman Maria Kilheffer, who finished 19th out of 83 competitors in a time of 24:42.20. Burrell’s SAR teammate, sophomore Ella Arnold, crossed the finish line in 24th place in a time of 25:45.80.

Southland Academy freshman Noah Sheff finished the Southland Raider run in 21st place out of 90 competitors in a time of 19:31.40.
ATR Archive

The next local runner to finish the meet was SAR freshman Julia Clare Hubbard. Hubbard finished the meet in a time of 26:55.10. Right behind Hubbard was SCHS junior Grace Hardage. Hardage was the first Lady Wildcat to cross the finish line and she did it in a time of 26:58.10.

Three more local runners crossed the line shortly thereafter. FC junior Litzy Lepiz finished the race in a time of 27:13.50 and SCHS senior Lilly Bacon finished right behind Lepiz in a time of 27:34.80. ASHS senior Selliyah Owens followed right behind Bacon, finishing the race in a time of 27:43.00.

The next FC Lady Falcon to cross was junior Jasmine Kilheffer. Kilheffer finished the race in a time of 28:50.80. Junior Rebecca Wood of ASHS finished just three spots behind Kilheffer in a time of 29:10.00. Wood’s teammate, senior Teigan Pepito, finished in a time of 29:17.60. She was followed by two SAR Lady Raiders: sophomores Maddie Godwin (29:35.30) and Taylor Ragsdale (29:50.00).

Southland Academy’s Brianna Brown finished the MS girls’ race in third place in a time of 14:21.80 and helped lead the Lady Raiders to a team championship in the middle school girls’ division at the Southland Raider Run.
ATR Archive

Two more local runners followed Ragsdale in the race. FC junior Talana Holloway finished in a time of 29:59.40 and ASHS sophomore Jasmin White finished right behind Holloway in a time of 30:03.00.

The next SCHS Lady Wildcat to cross was junior Kaia MacLennan. MacLennan finished the meet in a time of 30:56.20. Two spots behind MacLennan was FC freshman Syrius Zhang, who finished the meet in a time of 32:13.30.

Other local runners who turned in strong performances in the high school girls’ race included ASHS senior Cyniah McCrary (33:18.50), SCHS freshman Kayla Moyle (33:35.80), SCHS junior Sarah Barnhill (35:20.80) and FC senior Rebecca White (38:35.20).

Americus-Sumter junior Griffin Toms finished the high school boys’ race at the Southland Raider Run in 20th place out of 90 competitors. Toms crossed the finish line in a time of 19:25.80.
Photo by Shanika Dyson

In middle school boys’ action, The SAR boys’ team finished in third place with 79 points. Trinity Dublin Christian Academy finished as the meet runners-up with 63 points and Tiftarea Academy won the middle school boys’ team championship with 43 points.

Individually, Shaw Pinnell of SAR was the first local runner to cross the finish line. Pinnell finished just outside the top 10 in 11th place in a time of 13:45.20. Pinnell’s teammate, Peyton Gilbert, finished just two spots behind Pinnell in 13th place in a time of 13:55.50.

The next SAR runner to cross was William Kinney. Kinney finished the race in a time of 14:14.70. The first Schley County Middle School (SCMS) runner to finish the race was Sterling Blanchard, who finished in a time of 14:39.00. Colton Crawford of SAR finished right behind Blanchard in a time of 14:45.10 and Hunter Hardage of SCMS finished right behind Crawford in a time of 14:51.10.

Ryan Peck was the next Raider to cross the finish line and he did it in a time of 14:53.80. Peck’s teammates, Jase Peterson and Matteson Debaise, finished one behind the other in times of 15:55.00 and 15:56.70 respectively.

Right behind Debaise was the first Furlow Charter (FC) runner to cross the finish line. Zachary Almeida completed the race in a time of 16:02.80.

The next local runner to cross was William Lingefelt of SCMS. Lingefelt was able to finish the race in a time of 16:52.20.

In middle school girls’ action, The SAR Lady Raiders won the team championship, finishing the meet with just 46 points. They finished 21 points ahead of meet runners-up Brookwood. Again, in the sport of cross country, the team goals are to finish with the fewest points possible.

SAR’s Brianna Brown turned in the best individual performance of all the local MS girls’ runners, as she finished in third place in a time of 14:21.80. Brown was just 11 seconds behind race runner-up Abby Stalvey of the Brookwood, who finished in a time of 14:09.20. Jenna DeBary of Terrell Academy won the MS girls’ race, finishing in a time of 13:25.50.

The next local runner to cross the finish line was Paige Drinnon of Furlow Charter (FC). Drinnon finished the race in a time of 14:45.90. Three spots behind Drinnon was SAR’s Alyssa Godwin, who finished in 12th place in a time of 15:26.00. Godwin’s teammate, Reese Graft, finished two spots behind her in a time of 15:53.00 and her SAR teammate, Mary Ramsey Collins, finished just three spots behind Graft in a time of 16:23.70.

The next SAR runner to cross was Camille Cochran. Cochran finished 21st out of 57 competitors in a time of 16:43.60. Her two teammates, Isabelle Saratsiotis and Braylee Campbell, finished one after the other in times of 17:17.30 and 17:30.90 respectively. Marlee Holloway of FC also turned in a strong performance, finishing the race in a time of 19:40.60.