Valdosta ready for state cross country meet

Published 2:37 am Tuesday, December 6, 2005

VALDOSTA — Valdosta High’s girls cross country team is ready to run one last time this season.

The Lady Wildcats will compete at the AAAAA state meet Saturday at Carrollton Elementary in Carrollton. The girls AAAAA race is the final one of the day, run at 3 p.m.

“We’re going up there, and we’ll try to do our best,” Valdosta coach John Miller said. “It’s a whole different league up there. You’ve got teams up there with close to 100 runners. We’ve got eight. But the young ladies are trying hard, and our goal is to better our results from last year.”

This is the ninth time in the past 11 years that Valdosta has made the state meet.

Valdosta High’s girls earned their state berth by finishing second at the Region 1-AAAAA cross country meet in Moultrie, won by region power Tift County. At that meet, Valdosta had the second- and third-place individual finishers in Danielle Washington (21:07) and Jaquita Rideau (22:10). Teammate Jessica Thomas, who won the girls race at the Wildcat Invitational earlier this year, finished eighth, Julia Hjort was 23rd, Glenda House was 32nd, Kayte Dressel was 33rd and Rebekah Rodgers was 34th.

“I’m proud of the girls for making it to state again,” Miller said. “They’ve worked hard, and they’re looking forward to it.”

Lowndes High will also send two runners to Carrollton. Josh Abinal of Lowndes finished second at the region meet and will go the state meet as an individual qualifier. Paige Lester finished sixth in the girls’ race, and also qualified individually for the state meet.

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Berrien High’s region championship cross country teams will compete at the GHSA state Class AA meet Saturday in Carrollton. The boys will run at 11:30 a.m., the girls at noon at Carrollton Elementary.

The Rebels have won three-straight Region 2-AA titles, while the Rebelettes have won region in both years of their existence. Berrien’s boys have also gained statewide recognition, being ranked No. 9 by gatfxc.com, a website dedicated to Georgia prep cross country and track and field.

Berrien’s boys finished second through sixth at the region meet, beating Pierce County, 37-57. Two juniors, Ryan Reeder and Benjie West, finished second and fourth. Sophomore Derrick Cook was sixth, while freshmen Chris Gaither and Travis Franklin were third and fifth.

Sophomore Jamey Knight was 14th, junior Jeff Palmer 19th.

Berrien’s girls claimed the top three individual places at the region meet en route to a 27-56 win over Pierce County.

Demonessa Pyle won the region title, with Keelie Allen second and Allison Harper third. Denise Fountain was eighth, Kyra Fackler 13th, Leslie Davis 15th and Christen Lawhorn 21st.