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High school cross country: Southeast boys, Dalton girls capture region titles; Several squads qualify for state

Daniel Mayes, The Daily Citizen, Dalton, Ga.
·4 min read

Oct. 31—High school cross country region championship races were held recently, with each region hosting a championship 5k race for both girls and boys cross country teams.

The boys team and Southeast Whitfield and the girls team at Dalton each won a region title, while several local teams and individuals secured spots at the 2023 GHSA state championships this Friday and Saturday in Carrollton.

Class 5A

At the Region 7-5A race in Cartersville, the Dalton girls earned a region championship while the boys finished as runners-up just two points behind Cartersville. Both teams qualified for the 5A state race in Carrollton on Friday.

The Lady Catamounts finished six points ahead of second-place Woodland, powered by five finishers in the top 10.

Camila Pineda was fourth, Ahira Ramirez sixth, Ximena Arias seventh, Stephanie Rivas eighth and Taylor Jones ninth.

Christofer Lopez was the top finisher for the boys race in sixth, while German Santana, Carlos Marquez and David Saldana were 10th, 11th and 12th.

Class 4A

Southeast Whitfield's boys brought home the Region 7-4A championship from the region meet at Heritage High School in Ringgold, while the girls took second place to Central-Carrollton. Both Southeast squads qualified for the Class 4A state championship race in Carollton on Saturday.

In the boys race, Southeast had three of the top seven finishers. Kevyn Chavez was fourth, Johnny Silverio was fifth and Jorge Paredes finished seventh.

Sandybel Ramirez was the top finisher for the Lady Raiders at sixth, while Amy Gasper, Juliana Ruiz, Pamela Regis and Desiree Nava crossed the finish line consecutively from 13th to 16th.

Northwest Whitfield finished fifth in the boys team standings and the Lady Bruins finished fourth. The girls qualify for the state meet as a team, while Gavin Ollis will advance to state as an individual from the boys side.

Ollis finished third in the individual standings to earn that qualification. Ben Cleek was next for the Bruins with an 11th place finish, and Harrison Daniel was 19th.

Lexi Lyon also crossed the finish line in third place for the Lady Bruins. Meryl Clark was 10th, Emily King was 18th and Sadie Clark finished 19th.

Class 3A

Coahulla Creek's boys and girls both finished second overall at the Region 6-3A meet in LaFayette, and both qualify for the state championship on Saturday in Carrollton. Both teams finished second to region champion Bremen.

Landon Hollis and Jack Gallegly finished ninth and 10th in the boys race, with Evan Tallent at 13, Johan Reyes at 17 and Trey Stanley at 19.

In the girls race, Dafne Monroy took fifth place, while Kate Casteneda was 12th, Litzy Reyes was 13th and Lilly Lowe was 18th.

Class 2A

At the Region 7-2A meet in Rome, North Murray's boys finished fourth in the team standings, while Murray County came in seventh. The North Murray boys team qualifies for state in Carrollton on Saturday.

Aven Cameron led the way for North with a fourth place finish, while Cole Kopcsak was 10th and Lane Watson was 19th. Feliciano Perez was Murray's top finisher at 22nd, and Alex Pantoja finished 32nd.

North Murray took fifth in the girls race, and Murray County was sixth.

North Murray's Malia Schmidt finished seventh overall in the girls race, while Karina luna was 21st, Lawson Cargal was 23rd and Jaslyn Gonzalez was 27th.

Edith Perez Pedro topped Murray County with a 17th-place finish. Floresita Butista Ramos was 20th, and Linda Lopez finished 24th.

Class A DI

Dalton Academy had a pair of runners compete as an individual in the Region 7-A DI meet. Melvin Perez was 23rd and Jesus Arellano finished 34th.

Class A DII

Christian Heritage finished second the in boys team standings to Atlanta Classical Academy at the Region 7-A DII meet, and the Lions advance to the state meet in Carrollton on Friday.

Atlanta Classical had all four of the top four finishers, while Christian Heritage's Adrian Salinas finished fifth. Cash Hare and Jose Ojeda grabbed 10th and 11th.

Running as individual, Christian Heritage's Sara Beth Johnson finished 8th in the Region 7-A DII girls race.