Lady War Eagles Continue To Climb Mountains

 


HELEN, GA - Cooler temperatures, lower humidity, leaves starting to cover the trails, racing up at Unicoi. All of this means one thing...fall has arrived and it's time for the annual Mountain Invitational!

The Varsity girls ran against 27 teams which included 183 girls at Unicoi State Park. This event brings a lot of schools and great competition as public and private schools of all classifications gather together in competition.  Coming off their 2nd place finish at the Hall County XC Championships just 5 days prior, the Lady War Eagles held their own on an afternoon filled with 11 girls running new PRs.

Freshman Emma Dobson led the way by running down the race favorite, Carly Black of White County, and finishing 23 seconds ahead of the field to win the Mountain Invitational in a PR of 19:06.50. Dobson's time was not only good enough to win the Mountain Invitational, but it was also good enough to move her up to the #3 fastest 5K in Chestatee High School history ahead of Mary Beth English's time of 19:15.03 set in 2014.  Senior Kayleigh McBride was next across the finish line, followed by Senior Izzy Wintermantel.  Wrapping up the scoring was Freshman Bella McClenathen, and Junior Crystal Vaca, both of which ran PR times, respectively.  The girls looked strong as they toughed out the "mountain" and finished 4th in team points with 141, just 10 points behind White County.

The JV Lady War Eagles also finished in 4th overall with 141 points being led by a 10th place finish by Junior Natalie Menjivar with a PR of 23:43.70 and top-25 finishes from Juniors Leilani Moreno and Vanessa Valdez. Freshmen Harper Irvin and Abilene Sanchez finished off the scoring for the JV Lady War Eagles.

Due to limited entries allowed in both the Varsity and JV races, an JV Open race was run. Senior Reyna Palacios finished 2nd overall with a 28:41.20.

The Boys Varsity struggled, only running 5 total athletes. The team was led by Sophomore Eastin Chaffin, who finished with a PR of 20:03.90. Senior Jonathan Smith was next over the line, followed by Miguel Valdez who ran a PR of over a minute off his previous fastest time. Colton Blackburn and Zachary Smith finished out the scoring as the Boys finished in 27th with 737 points.

Up next is the Pickens and Grinin' on October 10th...under the lights.


INDIVIDUAL CXC FINISHERS (TOP 7 RUNNERS)

Medalists in Bold

VARSITY BOYS (Team: 27th Place, 737 points)
  1. Easton Chaffin, 116th (116)
  2. Jonathan Smith, 128th (128)
  3. Miguel Valdez, 157th (157)
  4. Colton Blackburn, 160th (160)
  5. Zachary Smith, 183rd (178)

VARSITY GIRLS (Team: 4th Place, 141 points)

  1. Emma Dobson, 1st (1)
  2. Kayleigh McBride, 26th (26)
  3. Izzy Wintermantel, 35th (35)
  4. Bella McClenathen, 38th (38)
  5. Crystal Vaca, 41st (41)
  6. Kylor Stewart, 59th
  7. Alison Aguilar, 75th

JV GIRLS (Team: 4th Place, 141 points)

  1. Natalie Menjivar, 10th (10)
  2. Leilani Moreno, 19th (19)
  3. Vanessa Valdez, 23rd (23)
  4. Harper Irvin, 33rd (32)
  5. Abilene Sanchez, 60th (57)
  6. Briana Aguilar, 82nd
  7. Julianna Merced, 93rd

JV GIRLS - OPEN RACE

  1. Reyna Palacios, 2nd
  2. Beberly Domingo, 6th
  3. Leslie Cruz, 9th
  4. Paola Salazar, 10th
  5. Mia Mejia, 12th

13 NEW PERSONAL RECORDS (PR)
  • Easton Chaffin
  • Miguel Valdez
  • Emma Dobson
  • Bella McClenathen
  • Crystal Vaca
  • Kylor Stewart
  • Alison Aguilar
  • Natalie Menjivar
  • Vanessa Valdez
  • Abilene Sanchez
  • Alexa Rodriguez
  • Paola Salazar
  • Mia Meija

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