The GHSA State Cross Country Championships got underway this morning at the Carrollton Course, with three classifications competing. Below is a roundup of today’s results; the championships resume Saturday morning in Carrollton with Class AAA starting at 8 a.m. and Class A-Public scheduled to wrap the day up starting at 2 p.m.
Class AAAAAAA: Two Forsyth County teams took first place in Friday's final races, winning each program's first-ever titles. The Lambert boys (1:24:44.05) denied Marietta (6th place) a third straight title in the state's largest class, and the South Forsyth girls (1:41:07.42) won comfortably over the next-closest competitor, Brookwood (1:44:30.84). Milton's Sam Bowers (16:06.57) took the boys title with Hayden Tullos (16:10.45) and Ben Patterson (16:19.07) of Marietta in second and third, and Liz Galarza (18:58.66) of West Forsyth won for the girls with South Forsyth's Kaylee DuPont (19:17.32) coming in second.
Class AA: Bleckley County swept, with the boys (1:31:18.51) edging out No. 2 Banks County (1:32:05.86) and the girls (1:59:08.41) besting No. 2 Rabun County (2:00:42.78) for team honors. Carl Ellis Corley (17:19.48) of Bleckley finished No. 1, with three Bleckley runners in the top 10. Macy Moe (22:04.21) took third for the Bleckley girls, and sisters Mari (21:37.18) and Alina Jablonski (21:52.90) of Monticello (non-qualifier) took first and second. It's the Bleckley boys' second-ever title and second in a row, and it's the girls' first.
Class A-Private: Landmark Christian also pulled off a sweep in the day's first races. The Landmark boys (1:29:44.21) took the title with three runners in the top five, with Seth Cruver (17:13.80) and Kermit Jackson (17:39.38) of Landmark finishing Nos. 1 and 2. The girls (1:40:03.76) had four top-10 runners, with Nicole Fegans (18:36.20) of Landmark taking the title. It is each program's 10th state championship.
