The Lady War Eagles Have Landed

 


GAINESVILLE, GA - Championship season has arrived for Cross Country. Just like last year, the threat of tropical weather was in the conversation and it was looking like the Hall County Championships were going to look more like a Tough Mudder race than a Cross Country race. Chestatee's Trail Maintenance team went out before dawn to help with North Hall's team to make sure the trails were clear of debris (and acorns).  With exception to some light rain on Friday at Nopone, the course seemed to be in excellent shape as night turned to dawn early on Saturday morning. Despite cool temperatures and overcast skies, the high humidity seemed to be a contributing factor as many runners struggled to catch their breath during their race, but the competition did not disappoint as the War Eagle runners alone saw 18 new PRs.

The North Hall girls were heavily favored to finish first, but the second place trophy was up for grabs between Flowery Branch, Lanier Christian, and Chestatee…which on paper, seemed very evenly matched.  The girls knew what was up for stake as they trained this week and knew they had the talent...but still needed to put in the work.  But on race day, the Lady War Eagles didn't even want to make it close as they put all 5 scoring runners in the top 16 spots to take home a 2nd place trophy for the first time since 2017, finishing 28 points behind North Hall and 25 points ahead of Lanier Christian.  Emma Dobson attacked the hill in the woods loop to close the gap on the leader and finished just under 8 seconds behind the winner with a PR of 19:17.40 and Kayleigh McBride made a late charge to grab the 10th place spot with a PR of 21:56.90.  Izzy Wintermantel followed right after McBride and Bella McClenathen and Crystal Vaca both PR'ed to take the 15th and 16th spots.

The Chestatee Boys struggled after a strong showing at Tallulah Falls.  Zac Benna was the first to cross the line for the War Eagles in 19:32.71 and Jonathan Smith had a strong run going sub-20 for the first time this season with 19:52.70.  Easton Chaffin, Pedro Pedro-Martin, and Colton Blackburn filled in the rest with PRs, but were unable to place any runners in the top 25 against a very talented field and the Varsity Boys finished 8th overall.

The JV Girls came to work as they also put 5 girls in the top 16 spots.  Freshman Harper Irvin ran a PR of 25:09.60 en route to crossing the finish line for a 1st place finish and Abi Sanchez finished in 8th place, also with a PR.  Juju Merced, Melanie Caballos, and Briana Aguilar finished off as the final 3 scoring spots as the JV Girls finished 2nd overall.

The JV Boys did not have enough runners to score as a team, but Jose Romero was our first JV Boy to cross the line with a PR of 23:05.40, with Royer Vasquez and Zach Smith finishing as our only JV Boys.

Photo Credit: Robert Hernandez, R-Lead Photography


INDIVIDUAL CXC FINISHERS (TOP 7 RUNNERS)

Medalists in Bold


VARSITY BOYS (Team: 8th Place, 265 points)
  1. Zac Benna, 39th (36)
  2. Jonathan Smith, 48th (43)
  3. Easton Chaffin, 51st (45)
  4. Pedro Pedro-Martin, 61st (51)
  5. Colton Blackburn, 66th (56)
  6. Romeo Vasquez, 72nd
  7. Miguel Valdez, 74th

VARSITY GIRLS (Team: 2nd Place, 54 points)

  1. Emma Dobson, 2nd (2)
  2. Kayleigh McBride, 10th (10)
  3. Izzy Wintermantel, 11th (11)
  4. Bella McClenathen, 15th (15)
  5. Crystal Vaca, 16th (16)
  6. Alison Aguilar, 26th
  7. Leilani Moreno, 27th

JV BOYS (Team: No Score)

  1. Jose Romero, 27th
  2. Royer Vasquez, 41st
  3. Zach Smith, 43rd

JV GIRLS (Team: 2nd Place, 40 points)

  1. Harper Irvin, 1st (1)
  2. Abilene Sanchez, 6th (6)
  3. Julianna Merced, 14th (10)
  4. Melanie Caballos, 15th (12)
  5. Briana Aguilar, 16th (14)
  6. Alexa Rodriguez, 18th
  7. BryAna Reyna, 22nd
18 NEW PERSONAL RECORDS (PR)
  • Easton Chaffin
  • Pedro Pedro-Martin
  • Colton Blackburn
  • Miguel Valdez
  • Jose Romero
  • Emma Dobson
  • Kayleigh McBride
  • Bella McClenathen
  • Crystal Vaca
  • Alison Aguilar
  • Leilani Moreno
  • Natalie Menjivar
  • Vanessa Valdez
  • Harper Irvin
  • Abilene Sanchez
  • Julianna Merced
  • Melanie Caballos
  • Alexa Rodriguez

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