Lady War Eagles, Led By State Runner-up Emma Dobson, Finish 5th In Georgia 3A

 

CARROLLTON, GA - The weather did not want to let the teams know what it was going to do today.  After strong thunderstorms overnight, the day started with overcast skies for the morning races.  But as the Lady War Eagles left the hotel, the sun came out and was a very warm 72 degrees...a very contrasting day compared to 36 degrees at Sectionals last weekend.  But as we neared the 2:45pm start time, the skies started to cloud up again and we got some rain during warmups.  While the rain let up just before the starting pistol sounded, it was enough to cause some slippery conditions, especially to those runners who did not wear spikes.

We were the last race of the event and over 150 girls ran across the starting area to funnel into the narrowing path along side the school.  For those spectators that stay in the main viewing area by the start & finishing areas, our first glimpse would be as the runners came over the hill before heading to the area of the campus behind the starting blocks.  With the bright sky as the backdrop looking up the hill, there were 2 girls with about a 10m lead with a familiar silhouette.  Chestatee's Emma Dobson was in 5th in the middle of a perfectly symmetrical formation with North Hall's Summer Muxlow and Picken's Heidi Thompson to each side and Dawson's Hayden Hand and North Hall's Ealyn Kennedy to the rear...similar to the tight formation of Blue Angel jets at an air show.


Behind Dobson was Seniors Kayleigh McBride in 39th and Izzy Wintermantel in 48th.  Following closely was Freshman Bella McClenathen in 57th and Junior Crystal Vaca in 58th.  Sophomore Kylor Stewart (77th) and Junior Natalie Menjivar (78th) were caught back in the pack before heading to the opposite side of the campus.

By the time the runners returned back to the hill to complete the first loop, Emma was already in 2nd place behind Muxlow and ahead of Kennedy, and that positioning would maintain through the end of the race with Muxlow and Dobson pulling away from the field.  Emma would go on to finish in 2nd as this year's Georgia State 3A Runner-up.

Kayleigh McBride would improve her position by 14 spots to round off the Top-25 runners of the meet.  Crystal Vaca would power through to pick up 25 spots to finish 33rd.  Bella McClenathen would pick up 17 spots to finish 40th.  Izzy Wintermantel, recovering from illness from Sectionals, would only be able to pick up 5 spots to finish 43rd.  Kylor Stewart picked up 31 spots to come in 46th, right after Wintermantel.  Natalie Menjivar was able to pick up 13 spots to finish the race for the Lady War Eagles to finish in 65th place.

But the effort would not be enough as Chestatee finished just 2 points shy of making the 4th place spot on the podium, and just 6 points shy of 3rd place.  So the Lady War Eagles will finish the 2025 Cross Country season ranked 5th in Georgia 3A, and improvement from 9th in State at the start of the season.  While the team was disappointed with the finish, we want to still recognize the improvement that they made since August, specifically winning 2 events this year, finishing runner-up at the Hall County Championships, and now being at Top-5 team in the State of Georgia!


INDIVIDUAL CXC FINISHERS (TOP 7 RUNNERS)

Medalists in Bold


All-State, 1st Team - Emma Dobson (Ranked 2nd in State 3A)



Top 25 State 3A Finish - Kayleigh McBride

VARSITY GIRLS (Team: 5th Place, 140 points)

  1. Emma Dobson, 2nd (2)
  2. Kayleigh McBride, 25th (25)
  3. Crystal Vaca, 33rd (32)
  4. Bella McClenathen, 40th (39)
  5. Izzy Wintermantel, 43rd (42)
  6. Kylor Stewart, 46th, (45)
  7. Natalie Menjivar, 65th (62)

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