The Richmond Hill High School and Bryan County High School boys and girls cross-country teams, along with many other competing schools, had a meet last Wednesday, Sept. 12 at J.F. Gregory Park.
The RHHS boys and girls both placed third in their respective competitions.
The top boys at the meet were, in order of top finishing times, Jimmy Gardner, Justin Calkins and Brett Tuten.
Placing third out of a field of eight quality teams, two of which were perennial AAAAA and A region champions Camden County and Savannah Country Day, the Ladycats had seven of their runners in the top thirty overall positions.
Pacing the RHHS girls was freshman Lindsey Vasher clocking in at just over 24 minutes. Following close behind were, Lauren Hall, Alena Gonzales, Caitlin Uhlig, Gini Russell, Katie Berry, and Azea Mustafa.
The defending Region 3-AAA Champion Ladycats are still without their number one runner from last season, Glorili Alejandro, who should be lining up to race soon. Vasher made her return this meet after a short hiatus due to an injury.
This was the first meet for the Bryan County High School boys and girls cross country teams.
The Redskin boys finished ninth in the competition. Kurt Shuman, clocking just over 22 minutes, had the strongest showing for the school followed by Zach Shinall, Jeremy Foster and Tyler Moody.
Only three girls ran for BCHS girls cross country, and Coach Cindy Bennett is hopeful more girls will come out. Due to GHSA rules, schools must have at least five runners to qualify for region or state. They can, however, qualify individually. The three girls who ran are, in order of top finishing times, Jennifer Waters, Ashley Cobb and Amber Myrick.
Next up for Bryan County runners include Sept. 19, 4 p.m. at J.F. Gregory Park and Sept. 26, 3:30 p.m. at Savannah Country Day School where both RHHS and BCHS will again compete with numerous other schools.
Admission is free and each team encourages fan support.