Chattahoochee’s Sydney Marshall posted a time of 18:34.87 at the GHSA state championship meet on Saturday in Carrollton. Marshall’s time was good enough for second-place overall for Class-AAAAA girls.
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The GHSA state cross country championships took place over the weekend, and north Fulton was well-represented in both team and individual categories.
The Blessed Trinity girls posted the top team finish of any local squad, taking third-place in the Class-AA meet. The Lady Titans were paced by Kate Beecham’s top team time of 20:49.93.
Led by Dylan Dimartino’s time of 18:09.44, the BT boys took seventh on Saturday.
Correcting a Neighbor omission from last week’s article, the Johns Creek Lady Gladiators qualified for state with a second-place finish in their region meet, and did themselves proud in Carrollton.
Bolstered by the splendid running of Class-AAA individual state champion, freshman Allie Buchalski, Johns Creek collected a No. 7 team finish at state and announced its presence as a formidable program.
“It definitely lays the foundation, to have the girls pumped and ready to work hard and improve,” said Johns Creek head coach Danny Brock. “The goal is to be top four and eventually win the state championship.”
Brock said Buchalski’s state title performance, in which she paced the field with a time of 18:28.18, typified the type of effort that resonates with the team and staff.
“She’s just very strong and competitive. She does exactly what we tell her to do,” said Brock. “She’s just a very coachable kid…and [that] trickles on down through the rest of the kids.”
In Class-AAAAA, stellar individual performances were turned in by Chattahoochee’s Sydney Marshall – who finished No. 2 overall – and Alpharetta’s Dylan Hassett, who took third-place.
On the boys’ side, ‘Hooch’s Austin Ulich finished No. 12, while Milton’s Tyler Tomy finished 34th.
The girls’ teams from Centennial (No. 6), Roswell (No. 8), and Milton (No. 10) turned in top-10 finishes at state. Kelly Meyer (19:20.94) led the Lady Knights, while Sally Kirklewski (19:24.07) led the Lady Hornets, and Chelsea Weiermiller (20:14.27) led the Lady Eagles.
Though they did not reach their goal of a top-five finish, Centennial’s boys took eighth-place and were led by Ryan Knobbe’s mark of 16:06.75.
Sam Reilly (17:22.02) paced the Mount Pisgah boys in the Class-A meet to a No. 11 team finish. Katie Strawinski (22:15.74) helped the Lady Patriots to a 12th-place finish.
Complete results can be found at http://ga.milesplit.us.
