Sports Editor

The McIntosh boys and girls cross country team participated in the Berry Invitational on Saturday, at Berry College in Rome,GA. The boys placed a disappointing 13th overall in a meet that they won a few years ago. Senior Geoff Melymuk, considered to be one of the top runners in the state, did not have his best race ever, placing 10th overall. He finished with a time of 16:30, in the race that he won last year.

Senior Kevin Panke placed 22nd with a time of 16:49. The third, fourth and fifth runners for the Chiefs, seniors Matt O'Donnell (17:50), Michael Patrick (17:59) and Robby Johnston (18:02), finished close to a minute after Panke and placed 106th, 116th and 117th respectively.

The key difference this year for the Chiefs is the graduation of Ryan Emory. Emory was the third finisher behind Panke and Melymuk but now there is a considerable dropoff between their second and third place finishers. Coach Buckle will try to rectify that as the season progresses, but he is very pleased with the showing of the girl's squad. Before the Berry meet, Buckle had a vague idea on the girl's times, but no idea how they would perform in competition with some of the state's other top programs. He has a pretty good idea now. Four out of his top five finishers Saturday were freshmen. Freshmen Dana Van Winkle and Elizabeth Gardner finished fifth and sixth overall, with times of 19:24 and 19:27 respectively. Sophomore Tina Pance finished with a time of 20:27, while freshmen Mary Katherine Croftoin and Judy Thomasson finished with times of 20:30 and 20:34.

The girls finished with 80 overall points, only four points off of Walton Academy's first place finish with 76 points. Coach Buckle was very pleased with the girl's performance, never finishing over third place in the Berry Tournament before. The girl's faced many tough programs at Berry and now can seriously eye the state championship. The Chiefs can even see a dynasty begin to build before their eyes, with the four freshmen finishing strong and only getting stronger.

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