By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Sports Editor

The cross country season has only a few meets left; the county championship, the regional championships, and the state championships.

Local teams have battled, dealing with injuries, tough competition and incredible odds, to stay contenders as they near the end of the season. Last Saturday, they ran in Carrollton in the Last Chance Meet to give another strong showing against teams they are all certain to see again.

The two strongest squads in the county right now are the McIntosh girls and the Landmark boys. Both teams have been ranked highly during the season and both have realistic exectations in contending for a state championship. The meet at Carrollton did not go exactly as planned for either team though.

McIntosh placed second overall with 57 points. The team handily defeated Collins Hill, Parkview and Pope, three teams that are constant thorns for the Chiefs at every large meet. They did lose to ----- though, a team that figures to be neck and neck with McIntosh for the rest of the season. Judy Thomasson finished in fourth place with a time of 20:51, while Mary Katherine Crofton placed seventh and Elizabeth Gardner placed 10th. Crofton finished with a time of 21:13 and Gardner was only 10 seconds behind.

It is definitely reassuring for the Chiefs to see Gardner coming back into form, as she was nursing injuries earlier in the season. McIntosh would like to see their pack tighten up a bit and have at least one more runner in the top 10.

Landmark, which had won its last sevral meets, placed second with 51 points. The team lost the meet by a point to Westminster. The War Eagles have been getting great results from their team this season, especially Kyle Rabbitt, who finished first yet again with a time of 16:03. Nathan Kosiba finished in third place with a time of 16:35 and Clark Rivers placed 10th in a time of 17:25.

Had Rivers finished a few seconds earlier, Landmark might have had the points necessary to win first place. In fact, Blake Fertita finished 12th with a time of 17:33. The War eagles are doing an excellent job of packing together and they know what they have to work on. They will definitely be running even harder in the last few meets.

The other local teams that raced in the Last Chance meet, Fayette County and Starr's Mill, also did well. The Fayette County boys placed 10th overall, with 260 points. Their only runner in the top 10 was Trey Alverson who finished eighth with a time of 17:31. The Tigers will be strong in the county and region championships, but may not have enough to go too deep at the state meet.

Starr's Mill's boys finished 10th overall in AAA with 278 points, while the girls finished eighth overall with 184 points. Neither squad had a runner in the top ten and the Panthers have had a few weeks of rest. The boys squad will be tough in the county championships, and the girls have a excellent shot at second place, for an upset over McIntosh seems very unlikely.

The county championships were scheduled to be run Wednesday, Oct. 20 at Sandy Creek High School. The results will be in the Wednesday, Oct. 27 issue of The Citizen.

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