GEORGIA STATE MEET

Marietta Sweeps Class 7A Team Titles; Makena Gates Wins Third Individual 6A Race; St. Pius Sweeps 5A

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

(7A/5A/2A/1A Public/Private)

The Marietta boys and girls swept the 7A team titles on Saturday at the Georgia State High School Cross Country Championships at Carrollton High. 

The Blue Devils girls team placed four runners in the top 18 to score 88 points and edge out defending champion, Hillgrove (94 points). Individually, South Forsyth sophomore Carmel Yonas finished the 5,000-meter course in 18:48.88.

Led by a first-place finish from Kamari Miller (15:29.72) the Marietta boys scored 99 points to claim the title.

Moving up a class, both the St. Pius girls and boys had to dig a little deeper for a state title, but both came out victorious. 

Led by senior Mary Brady’s first-place finish in 18:47.62, St. Pius placed four in the top nine to score 42 points. Blessed Trinity was second with 49 points.

In the boys race,  Decatur junior Christian Gonzalez was the top finisher (16:33.87), but St. Pius managed to have four runners finish in the top 15 and five in the top 22 to beat out Decatur, 56-58. 

In 2A action, Lovett senior Sydney Lamberson won the race in 20:08.88, while Pace Academy won with 44 points with four in the top 12.

Despite a win from junior Edward Blaha (16:28.36), the Pace Academy boys fell just short of the team title as Lovett finished with four in the top 12 to score 39 points. Pace Academy was second (41). 

Sophomore Shelby Green’s winning time of 20:01.4 guided Armuchee to the 1A public team championship.  

In the boys 1A Public race, senior Brandon Martin easily defended his individual title, crossing the line in 16:50.07, guiding Commerce to its second consecutive crown.

The Wesleyan girls and boys swept the 1A Private titles. The girls had four runners in the top 30. Sophomore Kiley Murphy of Brookstone won the individual title in 19:10.61. 

The Wesleyan boys made it a three-peat as senior Mac Howie’s third-place finish (16:32.66) led the way. Four runners all finished in the top 11.  Senior Zackary Truitt of Landmark Christian won the race in 16:05.43.

(6A/4A/3A Friday)

After finishing second a year ago, Creekview senior Makena Gates left nothing to chance as she ran a blistering time of 18 minutes, 43.60 seconds on Friday at Carrollton High to claim her third overall 6A individual title. Gates was the only female runner of the day to finish under 19 minutes as she won by nearly a minute, and the fastest female of the entire state meet. In the team race, Pope scored 74 to claim the crown. 

In the boys 6A race, Evans senior Jonathan Greene finished first in 16:36.49, Rome senior Patrick Motes was a close second in 16:40.99. In the team race, the Cambridge boys had four runners in the top 30 to finish with 108 points and claim the state crown.  

The girls 4A race was easily won by Marist as the team went 2-3-4, led by freshman Ruby Little’s runner-up finish in 19:27.42. Junior Katherine Law of Jefferson won the race in 19:24.08. 

Senior Luke Gaddis’ second-place finish (16:34.45) guided Chestatee to the 4A team title. The War Eagles had four runners finish in the top six and five in the top 10 to score 25 points. North Oconee’s David Potts won in 16:16.66. 

In 3A action, the Westminster boys and girls repeated as team champions. Individually, North Hall senior Caylee Wagner won in 19:08.6, more than a minute faster than the next competitor. In the boys race, senior Justin Wachtel of Mary Persons, a 2019 Foot Locker finalist, easily defended his title in the fastest time of the day, clocking 15:51.52. He was 20 seconds quicker than the next runner.

Team Champions

Class 7A: Marietta boys 99 points; Marietta girls 88 points - RESULTS

Class 6A: Cambridge boys 108 points; Pope girls 74 points - RESULTS

Class 5A: St. Pius boys 56 points; St. Pius girls 42 points - RESULTS

Class 4A: Chestatee boys 25 points; Marist girls 30 points - RESULTS

Class 3A: Westminster boys 54 points; Westminster girls 50 points - RESULTS

Class 2A: Lovett boys 39 points; Pace Academy girls 44 points - RESULTS

Class 1A Public: Commerce boys 69 points; Armuchee girls 65 points - RESULTS

Class 1A Private: Wesleyan boys 56 points; Wesleyan girls 118 points - RESULTS