The Union County Panthers boys cross country team earned the school’s first-ever state championship early Saturday morning, while two individual locals ran for state titles in Guy Gober (Rabun) and Zoe Sanchez (Union).

For the boys race, Union was led by Luke Gambrell’s fourth place finish (17:56). The top four Union boys were in the top 30. The Banks County Leopards, defending state champions and Region 8-AA champs just last week over Union, came in third overall. Griffin Stephens was the state runner-up with a 17:25. Teammate Buck Ledford was sixth with an 18:05. Rabun County was represented by Region Champion Guy Gober, and he won the individual state championship (his second, as he was the T&F state champ in May). Gober ran a 17:18 time.

In the girls’ 2A race, it was Union’s Zoe Sanchez who stole the show. After a region title last weekend, she earned a state championship with a 20:04 time, nearly a minute ahead of the second place runner. Union County placed eighth, while Rabun girls finished 10th and Banks County fourth. Banks was led by Destinie Martin’s 22:31 (13th), while Rabun’s top girl was Hanna Cannon (17th; 22:43).