Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year nominees

It was an incredible run (pun intended) by many of our local programs. All of them had various degrees of success, but all had a runner or two that consistently led their team. Here are the official 18 Runner of the Year nominees (alpha order).

WHAT’S NEXT? We will narrow this pool down to a finalist group of no more than 6. Our official BLITZ Voting Panel will then vote Heisman-style for the winner of the award.

Jensen Brown (Towns JR)

PR 17:36; Area 6th (18:01); State 11th (18:56); 1 1^st Place Finish; 3 Top-10s; 6 Top-20s

Luke Gambrell (Union JR)

PR 16:49; Region Runner-Up (17:21); State 4th (17:35); 1 1^st Place Finish; 5 Top-10s; 6 Top-20s

Lazero Garcia (Rabun SR)

PR 19:17; Region 21st (19:40); 2 Top-50s

Hunter Hartzog (Union SO)

PR 17:17; Region 7th (17:46); State 11th (17:55); 3 Top-5s; 4 Top-10s; 7 Top-20s

Demarco Hernandez (Commerce SR)

PR 16:57; Area Runner-Up (17:00); State Runner-Up (17:34); 7 Top-5s; 10 Top-10s; 11 Top-20s

Thomas Hotard (Habersham SR)

PR 16:06; Region Runner-Up (16:16); State 5th (16:40); 11 Top-10s (all races); 2 1^st Place Finishes; 7 Top-3 Place Finishes

Collin Kilgore (Dawson SR)

PR 16:15; Region Runner-Up (16:15); State 10th (17:03); 4 Top-10s; 5 Top-20s

Liam King (Towns JR)

PR 17:52; Area 5th (17:52); State 8th (18:31); 2 Top-5; 6 Top-10s; 7 Top-20s

Buck Ledford (Banks SO)

PR 17:27; Region 3rd (17:29); State 20th (18:30); 2 Top-10s; 6 Top-20s

Brandon Martin (Commerce JR)

PR 16:16; Area Champion (16:16); State Champion (17:02); 3 1^st Place Finishes; 9 Top-5s; 10 Top-10s

Ben McGinnis (Dawson SR)

PR 16:04; Region 3rd (16:16); State 11th (17:08); 1 1^st Place Finish; 5 Top-10s; 7 Top-20s

Eamonn O’Bryant (White JR)

PR 16:42; Region 6th (16:42); State 20th (17:28); 2 Top-10s; 5 Top-20s

Evan Prince (Tallulah Falls SO)

PR 16:14; Region 3rd (17:21); State 5th (16:53); 9 Top-5s (all races)

Grady Sanders (Stephens FR)

PR 17:55; Region 21st (18:07); 3 Top-10s; 5 Top-20s

Matthew Schroeder (Jefferson SO)

PR 16:19; Region Runner-Up (17:14); State 8th (16:55); 4 Top-10s; 5 Top-20s

Griffin Stephens (Banks SR)

PR 16:11; Region Champion (16:58); State Champion (16:44); 2 1^st Place Finishes; 4 Top-5s; 5 Top-10s; 6 Top-20s

Riley Thornton (Jefferson SR)

PR 15:35; Region & State N/A; 1 1^st Place Finish; 2 Top-20s

Kyle Trammell (Lumpkin SR)

PR 18:43; Region 29th (18:45); 2 Top-10s; 3 Top-20s