The 2016 Colquitt County High cross country team. Standing from left are Colin Daniels, Adrian McCray, Mitchell Riley, Travis Davis, Presley Thomas, Savonte Wilson, VaKe Merritt and Robert Wood. Kneeling from right are Victoria Barber, Callie Canady, Alaina Taylor, Jennifer Castillo, Deliza Gachuz, Glora Lorenzo, Tiffany Smith and Elizabeth Funderburk. Sitting is Danielle Brown.

MOULTRIE – Colquitt County’s Elizabeth Funderburk is back to defend her back-to-back region cross country championships and is healthy enough perhaps to duplicate – or improve on – her state meet performance of two years ago.

The Colquitt County girls and boys cross country teams are preparing for their season-opening competition on Saturday at the Apalachee Regional Park Cross-Country Running Course in Tallahassee.

Coach Mill Wier says his both of teams should be competitive during a 2016 season in which the region meet is not nearly as important as a new area meet in determining who will advance to the state meet.

The Region 1-7A meet, which will include Colquitt County, Lowndes, Tift County and Camden County, will be held on October 13 at Freedom Park in Valdosta with the winner getting a trophy.

But the new Area 1 meet, which will be held on Oct. 22, at the International Horse Park in Conyers, will determine which teams will qualify for the Nov. 4, state meet in Carrollton.

Competing with the four Region 1-7A teams will be Archer, Grayson, Newton, Rockdale County, Shiloh and South Gwinnett.

The top six teams and top 10 individuals from each of the four Class 7A areas will advance to the state meet.

The Packers and Lady Packers will have at least six meets, including the region meet, to get ready for the area competition, including two at the Apalachee Regional Park. In addition to Saturday’s meet, Colquitt run there again on Oct. 8 in the Florida State University Invitational.

Wier is eager to have his teams compete there.

“It’s an incredible course,” he said. “It’s about 15 to 20 yards wide with a lot of grass. They run a couple of national meets and a lot of other big meets there.”

Also on the schedule is the meet Colquitt County will play host to at Packer Park on Oct. 12, the day before the region meet.

The Colquitt County girls will head into the season led by two-time Region 1-AAAAAA champion Funderburk.

Just a junior and already one of the state’s top female high school athletes, Funderburk is hoping to put an injury-plagued sophomore cross country season behind her.

After winning the region and placing 11th at the state meet as a freshman, Funderburk battled a hip flexor injury much of last season. She won the region again, although her time was slower than the year before. And she finished just 45th at the state meet.

“She wants to prove that was just a blip on the radar,” Wier said. “She’s finally healthy and she’s committed herself to running since golf ended.

“She’s ready to race.”

Despite the injury, she still was named to Georgia Mile Split’s South of the Border cross country first team last fall.

Funderburk also is a two-time region track champion in both the 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters and has been the low medalist in the region golf tournament in both her freshman and sophomore seasons.

Joining Funderburk in the Lady Packers top four will be Tiffany Carruthers, Alaina Taylor and Danielle Brown.

All three were members of the Colquitt County team that advanced to the state meet last year.

“I think they girls will be pretty good if they are healthy,” Wier said, who has been especially proud of Carruthers and her leadership.

“She’s been with us for years,” Wier said. “And she’s really been helping with our ninth-graders.”

The Colquitt County boys will count on a fine junior runner of their own in Jake Merritt, who earned honorable mention on the 2015 South of the Border team.

“He should be ready,” Wier said. “If he runs this fall like he has during the summer, he could be first or second in the region.”

Savonte Wilson and sophomores Collin Daniels and Mitchell Riley are expected to round out the top four.

“Collin was one of our top guys last year,” Wier said. “All of them have worked hard this summer.”