Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

From Staff Reports

 

CHULA, GA – Both the Southland Academy (SA) Raiders and Lady Raiders cross country teams turned in strong performances at the 2020 Tiftarea Panther Prowl XC Meet held on Saturday, September 12, at Tiftarea Academy in Chula, GA.

“All our teams ran really well and posted strong finishes,” said SA Head Coach Buck Kinney. “We had three individual placers, 10 runners who set PRs (personal best times) and all four teams placed well. We’re eager to build on that success this weekend at the Deerfield-Windsor Invitational.”

As a team, the SA Lady Raiders finished in fourth place with a total of 103 points, just six points behind Fitzgerald, who finished in third place with 97 points. In Cross Country, the goal of each team is to finish with the fewest points as possible. Ware County finished as the meet champions with 27 points, followed by meet runners-up Brookwood (79 points) and third-place finishers Fitzgerald (97 points).

Jadie Burrell was the first Lady Raider to cross the finish line. Burrell finished in sixth place with a time of 26:04.27, which was over a minute faster than what she ran at the Furlow Fast Feet Invitational two weeks ago. Keelie Holloway of Ware County was the individual champion, as she finished a top the race standings in a time of 24:24.16.

Julia Claire Hubbard was the next Lady Raider to finish and she did it in a time of 30:21.86, finishing 23^rd out of 60 competitors. Not far behind Hubbard was her teammate, Ella Arnold. Arnold finished in 27^th place in a time of 30:56.61, which was almost two minutes faster than her time of 32:33.02 at the Furlow Fast Feet meet.

Mary Ramsey Collins was the next Lady Raider to cross the line and she did it in a time of 31:27.34, which was good enough for a PR (personal best time). Collins barely edged out her teammate, Maddie Godwin, who also ran a PR in the time of 31:27.96.

In the high school boys’ race, the Raiders finished in sixth place with 131 points and finished just one point fifth-place finishers Wilcox County. Valdosta finished as the team champions with 28 points, followed by runners-up Fitzgerald (62 points) and third-place finishers Ware County (63 points).

Individually, several Raiders turned in strong performances. Noah Sheff was the first Raider to cross the finish line, finishing the race in 12^th place in a time of 21:39.08. Sheff’s teammate, Tanner Humphrey, finished right behind him in a time of 22:08.66.

The next Raider to cross the finish line was Shaw Pinnell. Pinnell finished the race in a time of 27:44.57, which was good enough for a PR. Pinnell’s teammate, Lee Graft, finished right behind him in a time of 27:44.82. Other Raiders who turned in PRs in this race included Matteson Debaise (31:27.45) and Kolden Kinney (33:10.86).

In the middle school division, the SA Lady Raiders finished in third place as a team with 85 points. Westfield won the team championship with a total of 53 points, followed by meet runners-up Tiftarea Academy (65). SA’s Brianna Brown finished in fourth place in the girls’ race in a time of 16:07.74. Brown was only four seconds behind third-place finisher Addison Gamble of the Brookwood School, who finished in a time of 16:03.01. Abby Stalvey of Brookwood won the race in a time of 14:45.65.

The next Lady Raider to cross was Alyssa Godwin, who came close to a top-10 finish. Godwin finished in 12^th place in a time of 17:36.20, which was good enough for a PR.

Reese Graft was the next Lady Raider to cross the finish line, as she finished 20^th out of 64 competitors in a time of 18:34.21. Camille Cochran also turned in a strong performance, finishing in a time of 19:44.63.

Both Braylee Campbell and Isabelle Saratsiotis turned in strong performances for the Lady Raiders. Campbell finished the race in a time of 20:53.95 and Saratsiotis wasn’t far behind, as she finished in a time of 21:09.49.

The SA Middle School Boys’ Team finished in fifth place with 104 points, as they out paced Ben Hill Middle School, who finished in sixth place with 124 points.

Cook Middle School won the team championship with only 69 points, followed by meet runners-up Tiftarea Academy, who finished with 76 points.

Peyton Gilbert was the first Raider to cross the finish and line. Gilbert posted a top-10 finish, crossing the line in ninth place in a time of 15:08.53. The next Raider to cross the line was Colton Crawford, who finished 18^th out of 75 competitors and ran a PR of 15:45.39.

William Kinney was the next Raider to cross the finish line, as he finished in 28^th place in a time of 16:26.16. Two other Raiders ran PRs in this race. Jase Peterson scored a PR by finishing with a time of 16:20.09 and Ryan Peck ran his PR in a time of 16:33.93.

Up next for both the SA Raiders and Lady Raiders is the Deerfield-Windsor Invitational to be held on Saturday, September 19, at the Kinchafooney Primary School in Leesburg, GA. There will be teams from Furlow Charter and Schley County competing in this meet as well.