The cross

country season has only a few meets left; the county

championship, the regional championships, and the state

championships.

Local teams

have battled, dealing with injuries, tough competition

and incredible odds, to stay contenders as they near the

end of the season. Last Saturday, they ran in Carrollton

in the Last Chance Meet to give another strong showing

against teams they are all certain to see again.

The two

strongest squads in the county right now are the McIntosh

girls and the Landmark boys. Both teams have been ranked

highly during the season and both have realistic

exectations in contending for a state championship. The

meet at Carrollton did not go exactly as planned for

either team though.

McIntosh

placed second overall with 57 points. The team handily

defeated Collins Hill, Parkview and Pope, three teams

that are constant thorns for the Chiefs at every large

meet. They did lose to ----- though, a team that figures

to be neck and neck with McIntosh for the rest of the

season. Judy Thomasson finished in fourth place with a

time of 20:51, while Mary Katherine Crofton placed

seventh and Elizabeth Gardner placed 10th. Crofton

finished with a time of 21:13 and Gardner was only 10

seconds behind.

It is

definitely reassuring for the Chiefs to see Gardner

coming back into form, as she was nursing injuries

earlier in the season. McIntosh would like to see their

pack tighten up a bit and have at least one more runner

in the top 10.

Landmark,

which had won its last sevral meets, placed second with

51 points. The team lost the meet by a point to

Westminster. The War Eagles have been getting great

results from their team this season, especially Kyle

Rabbitt, who finished first yet again with a time of

16:03. Nathan Kosiba finished in third place with a time

of 16:35 and Clark Rivers placed 10th in a time of 17:25.

Had Rivers

finished a few seconds earlier, Landmark might have had

the points necessary to win first place. In fact, Blake

Fertita finished 12th with a time of 17:33. The War

eagles are doing an excellent job of packing together and

they know what they have to work on. They will definitely

be running even harder in the last few meets.

The other

local teams that raced in the Last Chance meet, Fayette

County and Starr's Mill, also did well. The Fayette

County boys placed 10th overall, with 260 points. Their

only runner in the top 10 was Trey Alverson who finished

eighth with a time of 17:31. The Tigers will be strong in

the county and region championships, but may not have

enough to go too deep at the state meet.

Starr's

Mill's boys finished 10th overall in AAA with 278 points,

while the girls finished eighth overall with 184 points.

Neither squad had a runner in the top ten and the

Panthers have had a few weeks of rest. The boys squad

will be tough in the county championships, and the girls

have a excellent shot at second place, for an upset over

McIntosh seems very unlikely.

The county

championships were scheduled to be run Wednesday, Oct. 20

at Sandy Creek High School. The results will be in the

Wednesday, Oct. 27 issue of The Citizen.