Dobson wins 1600, girls runner up in 4x800 at North Oconee

 

BOGART, GA - It was a hot, humid, and sunny day for the George's Low Country Table Invitational at North Oconee High School.  The only place to escape the blazing sun was under the bleachers as athletes were forced to compete in the warmest meet of this season.  Because of the heat, there were no significant PRs as the track was running slow, but we did see some good things out of the meet.

Freshman Emma Dobson led the distance girls with a 1st place finish in the 1600m with a season best time of 5:25.59.  Fellow freshmen Isabella McClenathen finished in 8th with a 6:09.05 and Ximena Garcia completed her first 800m distance in her career in 23rd with a 9:25.31.

In the boys 1600m, Andrew Laborde led the team with a 24th place finish with a time of 6:04.17.  Miguel Valdez finished in 26th with a 6:07.92 and Brayden Keller finished next in line in 27th with a 6:58.83.

The other shining moment of the meet came in the girls 4x800 relay when the Lady War Eagles (McClenathen, Vaca, McBride, Dobson) ran down the North Oconee girls after a collision in the 2nd exchange with North Hall allowed Chestatee to gain some ground before Emma Dobson passed them up in the anchor leg to finish with a team time of 10:47.00.

In the girls 800m, Emma Dobson got boxed in early in the third heat but came back to lead the team with a 4th place finish and season best time of 2:27.73. Kayleigh McBride finished in 13th with a 2:42.35 and Alexa Rodriguez finished in 30th place with a 3:09.25.

In the boys 800m, Andrew Laborde led the team with a 33rd place finish with a time of 2:57.94.  Miguel Valdez finished in 34th with a 2:58.50 and Brayden Keller finished in 35th with a 2:59.65 to keep all of the boys sub-3 minutes.

In the girls 3200m, Kayleigh McBride led the team with a 5th place finish under the lights in a time of 12:52.90.  Leilani Moreno ran her career race at this distance and finished in 7th with a time of 13:20.78 and Vanessa Valdez paced with a nearby runner to finish with a PR of 14:37.91.

In the boys 3200m, freshman Miguel Valdez surprised the team with his first sub-12 finish to lead the War Eagle boys in 17th place with a 12:59.37.  Andrew Laborde finished behind Valdez in 18th with a 13:12.87.

In other events, junior Crystal Vaca finished 20th in the girls 400m with a PR of 1:11.63.

Now Chestatee takes a break from competition for a couple weeks for Spring Break as the look towards the Region Tune-up at home on April 18th before the 3A-6 Regional Meet on April 21-23 at White County High School.

Meet Results: https://www.chestateexc.com/results/outdoor-track/4-2-north-oconee
Photos: https://www.chestateexc.com/coverage/photos
Articles: https://www.chestateexc.com/coverage/articles-archive
Schedule: https://www.chestateexc.com/schedule/outdoor-track-2026

Popular posts from this blog

VETERAN SPOTLIGHT: Staff Sergeant Wilfried "Wes" Wessely, US Army

Image
November 11, 2025 By: Josh Dobson On Veterans Day, we want to recognize our favorite Veteran, Staff Sergeant Wilfried Wessely, US Army, whom we affectionally know as “Coach Wes”.   Pictured above in Vietnam during Christmas in 1969,  Coach Wes served in the First Infantry Division of US Army (known as The Big Red One  from their involvement of pushing the Germans back during the Battle of the Bulge in WW2) from 1968-1970 where he was initially stationed at Fort Gordon in Augusta, GA before undergoing training before being sent overseas to Vietnam after being drafted at age 19.    At the time of his deployment, Wes was initially given the rank of Staff Sergeant (E-6). Coach Wes, known as "Bandit 25", had to assume the role of a Platoon Sergeant   due to a shortage of men as a result of the losses suffered during the Tet Offensive campaign in 1968.   Wes was flown out to the Fishhook Region near An Loc, Vietnam to enter combat near the terminus of t...
Read more

Chestatee Girls Dominate In The Mud At War Eagle Invitational

Image
GAINESVILLE, GA - Strong thunderstorms and a late-night downpour just hours before an early morning start made for wet and muddy conditions at Chestatee High School for the 20th Annual War Eagle XC Invitational on Saturday, but that did not seem to affect the Chestatee girls. Coming off her 2024 Middle School State XC Championship, Freshman Emma Dobson made her High School debut finishing with a victory in the Varsity Girls 5K race with a time of 21:00.10.  Seniors Kayleigh McBride and Izzy Wintermantel finished 3rd and 5th respectively and a strong showing by both Freshman Isabella McClenathen (15th) and Junior Crystal Vaca (18th) sealed the deal as the Varsity Girls dominated to win over Grayson High. Junior Alison Aguilar won in the JV Girls 2-Mile Race with a time of 17.08.40.  Right behind Aguilar was Sophomore Kylor Stewart, Freshman Harper Irvin, Junior Natalie Menjivar, and Junior Briana Aguilar to complete the sweep of the top 5 spots and come out on top of with a per...
Read more

GHSA 3A Sectional B Preview

Image
Just in case you did not read about it in the previous article...POSTSEASON IS HERE!  That's right, our War Eagles will be traveling north to Ringgold to compete in the GHSA 3A "B" Sectional XC Race.   So here is a rundown of how things work in order to qualify for the State Meet in Carrolton: Chestatee is in Region 6 of GHSA 3A schools and will compete with Regions 5, 7, and 8 at Heritage High School in Ringgold, Georgia.  Regions 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be competing at Long County High School in Ludowici, Georgia. 1. Top 12 teams running in each Sectional will advance (12 teams x 2 sectionals = 24 total teams that will compete at the State Meet) 2. Top 20 individual finishers in the Sectional will get an automatic bid to the State Meet, regardless if their team qualifies...so EVERYONE, has a chance to make it, even if their team is struggling. 3. In order to qualify for the State Meet, you MUST RUN in the Sectional race...which includes alternates.  There are no "...
Read more