The Berry

Invitational, one of the larger cross country meets in

the state, was conducted Saturday. The meet gives teams a

pretty good idea of where they stand, not only in their

region but against the state powerhouses. Each race has a

field of over 300 runners

The

McIntosh girls are definitely considered the team to beat

in AAAA. Ranked number one despite missing some of their

top runners in Tina Paone (who re-injured her ankle

during Saturday's race) and Elizabeth Gardner (also

unable to race), the Lady Chiefs took first place

Saturday with 96 points. South Gwinnett finished in

second place with 103 points and Walton took third with

104 points.

"It

was a little closer than I would have liked," said

Coach Charles Buckle. "Considering the injuries,

though, I'm quite pleased with our depth." Placing

sixth overall and finishing first for her team was Dana

Van Winkle with a time of 19:58. Van Winkle had only

recently returned to the team from injury. Judy Thomasson

(20:15) placed 12th overall, Mary Katherine Crofton

(20:44) placed 21st and Keri Pendergrass finished 30th

with a time of 20:58. Morgan Cunningham, Bryony Fuller

and Tabitha Lowey placed 32nd, 43rd and 72nd respectively

with times of 21:06, 21:21 and 21:53.

The boys

were in the last race of the day and did not know how

they finished overall. Ryan Emery finished first for the

Chiefs coming in 90th place with a time of 18:15. Mike

Smiley finished second for the Chiefs and placed 123rd

with a time of 18:38. Freshman Ben Brantley finished

132nd overall with a time of 18:42. Brantley was followed

162nd overall with times of 18:55 and 18:59 respectively.

Randy Hutchinson and Tom Scott rounded out the top seven

with times of 19:02 and 19:08. They finished 170th and

179th.

McIntosh

will travel to Marist this weekend to face several top

notch cross country programs from the state. The Chiefs

also will enter a national race in Charlotte, The Great

American Cross Country Festival, in a few weeks. The race

will pit McIntosh against the strongest programs in the

country.

Coach

Stephen Pruitt was pleased with his team's performance at

Berry as well. The girls finished in fourth place overall

and second in the state in AAA. Their placement and time

qualified them for the state meet at the end of the

season. The top five finishers for the Lady Panthers were

Katie Hughes (20:23), Eva Massmann (20:33), Ashley

Meredith (21:06), Cassie Shular (21:14), and Rachel

Sargent (23:30).

The boys

ran well but missed qualifying for the state meet by 33

seconds. Pruitt was still pleased by their run because

four of the top seven runners for the boys had been sick

during the past week. The boys placed seventh overall in

the race and fifth in the state in AAA. The top five

runners for the boys were Les Page (17:40), Jay

Touchstone (18:26), Ricardo Ramos (18:31), Jake Davis

(18:33) and Brandon Adams (18:40).

Fayette

County Coach David Phillips did not have final results,

positions or official times for his team from the Berry

Invitational, but he said the boys' performance Saturday

was not indicative of what they can do. The boys' team is

his strongest suit this year but his number two runner

was sick Saturday, also hurting his cause.

"I

feel we raced better the week before in East

Coweta," Phillips said. "I don't know if this

weekend's showing was because of a late start or race

anxiety. I think they are starting to expect more from

themselves and they're learning how to respond to that

pressure." The Tigers travel to the Carrollton meet

Saturday.