Saturday saw the local cross-country

teams participating at meets all over the state. Fayette County ran in

the Westover Invitational in Albany, while McIntosh ran at the Alexander

Invitational.

Fayette County

ran with 74 other teams in the 19th annual race. The boys placed sixth

overall and qualified for the state cross-country championship.

Trey Alverson,

currently ranked fifth in all classifications and fourth in AAAAA, set

a new FCHS record with a time of 15:42.

Blake Riley,

Jon Riley, Adam Pekarske and John Miklas rounded out the top five. The

boys are currently ranked eighth in AAAAA.

The girls team

also ran well, running without their top runner, Jessica Tyre. Amy Eller

finished first for the Lady Tigers, followed by Rachel Swafford, Margaret

Sams, Taryn Kendall and Kim Eddy.

Fayette County

wanted to run well Saturday to prepare for the County Championship race,

which was held last night. The boys were the favorite going in, but McIntosh's

boys have been coming on strong of late. McIntosh is currently ranked

ninth in AAAAA. The Fayette County girls had their work cut out for them

facing McIntosh's girls, who are currently ranked fourth of all classifications

and third in AAAAA.

McIntosh ran

in the Alexander-McIntosh Trail Run Invitational this weekend but did

not perform that well. Several of the top runners from the girls squad

were playing in a national soccer tournament last weekend. The girls that

did run did so in a good pack, but couldn't compete with some of the stronger

programs in the state. Tina Paone ran a 19:30, while Morgan Cunningham

ran a 19:36. Nikki Spencer ran a 19:58, Megan Spencer ran a 19:59 and

Sheena Sood ran a 20:44.

The boys were

led by Ben Brantley, who ran a 16:20. Randy Hutchinson followed Brantley

with a time of 16:21. Rounding out the top five for the boys were Shaun

Emery (16:37), Tony Luciano (16:50) and Brian Childs (17:02). The times

were very fast for both the boys and girls because the course is very

flat and ultimately short. The course is not a state meet qualifier, making

the next several races for the boys very important.

The previous

week's race at LaGrange saw McIntosh's girls finish first, while the boys

placed third. Hutchinson, Emery and Brantley finished 12th, 13th and 18th

with times of 17:21, 17:25 and 17:41 respectively. Ian Hardy finished

19th in a time of 17:42, while Tony Luciano finished 23rd with a time

of 17:51.

For the girls,

Elizabeth Gardner finished second with a time of 19:47 and Judy Thomasson

finished fifth with a time of 20:22. Mary Katherine Crofton finished 10

with a time of 20:43. She was followed by Paone and Cunningham in 11th

and 12th place. They finished with times of 20:45 and 20:47.

Coach Charles

Buckle is encouraged by both of his team's progress thus far this season

and yesterday's race should serve as a good indicator for upcoming races,

including the region championship on Saturday, Oct. 21.

The Landmark

Christian School Cross Country teams lined up to run in the highly competitive

Alexander-McIntosh Trail Run Invitational as well. LCS was the ONLY Class

"A" school in the meet. It turned out to be only a three-mile

course, due to a flooded area, caused by heavy rains on Friday. As the

times indicate, this was a flat and very fast course.

The boys came

in fifth overall against such teams as Alexander, fourth, Collins Hill,

third, Lakeside, second, and North Mecklenburg, NC, first. North Mecklenburg

is the number three team in the nation. Blake Fertitta and Clark Rivers

blistered the course in 15:10 and 15:21 to finish 6th and 11th overall.

Eric Sumner was third for LCS with a time of 16:04, Joseph Register finished

next in 16:43, with Johnathan Best running a 17:08, Scott Emery was in

with a 17:14, Dustin McDonald ran 17:27 and Jeff Noble came in at 17:30.

This was a great effort by these fine competitors. In the Open Division,

Tim Fritz ran 18:18, Matt Coffey ran 19:33, and Alan Gay came in at 20:35.

Receiving medals were Blake Fertitta sixth, Clark Rivers, 11th, and Eric

Sumner 23rd.

The LCS Lady

Harriers finished strong, coming in 13th overall in a field of highly

touted teams. The girls also, were the only Class "A" school

in the meet. Each LCS runner ran a personal best, contributing to the

best team time ever.

Mellissa Register

finished 1st for LCS in 21:02, Courtney Piribek ran 22:03, Mary Michael

Joiner came in at 22:04, Kate Bailey was 4th for LCS at 23:47, Sarah King

ran 23:49, Layla Constable ran 24:15, followed by Jenny Cone in 24:17,

Danielle Taussig at 25:47 and Meredith Gable in 26:57. What a great job

in a time of 29:38.

Next Saturday

the teams will run in the Furman Invitational at Furman University in

Greenville, SC.

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