Last spring, Coach Charles Buckle, the coach of the McIntosh cross country team , heard he had an outside shot at the state championships this fall, if his team of incoming freshmen could gel quickly enough and work hard enough. The prophecy was fulfilled on Saturday as the McIntosh girls cross country squad won the AAAA state championship. The top five runners for the Chiefs this season have been four freshmen and a sophomore. They battled fatigue, injury and illness to dominate nearly every meet after a two point loss at the Berry Invitational in their first meet of the season.

The Chiefs had five runners in the top 20 on Saturday and won with an adjusted score of 49 points. Collins Hill finished in second place 39 points behind McIntosh. Mary Katherine Crofton finished first for the Chiefs, taking sixth place with a time of 20:23. Judy Thomasson finished 11th and Dana Van Winkle finished 12th with times of 20:42 and 20:44 respectively. Elizabeth Gardner took 15th place with a time of 20:50 while Tina Paone finished 20th with a time of 21:12. Jamie Hyatt finished at 22:11 and took 59th place while Tani Gaan finished 96th with a time of 23:36.

"The girls bunched in real well for the win," Coach Buckle said. "Winning on the strength of four freshmen and a sophomore certainly has you thinking of what this team can do. All the girls worked very hard and had a lot of fun this year."

The boys had a tougher time Saturday but can still be pleased with their efforts. They finished in seventh place overall with a score of 199 points, three points away from fifth place. No team truly dominated the boys division as top ranked Brookwood finished first with an overall score of 111 points. Coach Buckle knew it would be a close race for the boys and the atmosphere was pretty warm, dry and dusty by the time the race had started.

Geoff Melymuk finished in sixth place with a time of 16:53 while Nick Van Winkle and Kevin Panke finished 28th and 35th with times of 17:42 and 17:49. Robby Johnston finished with a time of 18:13 taking 58th place as Michael Patrick and Matt O'Donnell finished 77th and 81st with times of 18:19 and 18:23 respectively. Sophomore Brandon Ring rounded out the top seven for the Chiefs taking 139th place with a time of 19:11.

Congratulations to the McIntosh cross country team on an exciting and successful season.

Both Sandy Creek's boys and girls squads were ranked 10th in the state in AAA before the races began at the state meet on Saturday. That was how they were ranked at the end of the day as well.The girls squad, made up entirely of sophomores and juniors, was led by Rae Lynch who finished in ninth place. Lynch was followed by Jessica Lovelace, Anya Traille, Kim Bockmuller, Alexis McCoy, Jennifer Huddleston and Erin Keebaugh. Coach Kelly Martin looks forward to next season with the girls as they should be a very talented and competitive team,both in the region and the state.

The boys squad ran well on Saturday as they were led by senior Thomas Rivers who placed 26th. He was followed by Lukas Fortunatto, Charlie Smith, R.T. Harris, Brian Wetmiller, Matt Wetmiller and Tom Scott. The boys lose some key seniors but Coach Martin has some sophomores she expects to step up next season.

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