Submitted PhotoThe Valdosta boys cross country team is pictured.

The Valdosta High School cross country team claimed their third consecutive Region 1-6A championship Wednesday.

The victory was the third overall meet win of the season for the Wildcats.

Freshman Parker Jackson finished the 3.1-mile race in 16:58 to lead Wildcat scorers and finished second overall behind Coffee’s Cameron Watson (16:40). Seventh place Mason Thompson (18:03), eighth place Ben Carlson (18:04) and ninth place Bryce Jackson (18:08) all claimed medals for Valdosta as top-10 finishers. Landon Jackson (18:49), Padre Asola (19:10) and Colton Baldwin (20:06) completed the scoring for Valdosta at 47 points. 

Valdosta was followed by Houston County with 67 points, Lee County (69 points), Northside Warner Robins (69 points) and Coffee (88 points).

The Valdosta girls will join the boys team at the GHSA state championships by outrunning Northside to claim fourth place. Team captain Katie Lancaster finished third with a time of 20:47 and freshman Emily Asola (21:55) finished ninth to earn individual honors. Those two top-10 finishers were followed by Nathalee Simoneau (23:29), Lauren Pyrzenski (24:58), Kailey Williams (27:52) and Kenzi Eikenberry (34:40) to qualify the girls for their state championship berth.

The junior varsity race saw the Wildcats finish fifth. Josh Krispin was the top Valdosta harrier with a time of 20:46. DJ Hennly, Cole Sellars, Will Gerber, Trenton Schillinger and Denver Brooks rounded out the junior varsity team. Valdosta’s lone girls JV entrant was Ishva Patel, who battled to a ninth-place finish.

Both teams will complete their seasons by competing for a state title in Carrollton on Nov. 2.