Our 12 local schools have all competed in their respective Sectionals and/or Region meets. That represents 24 different teams from 12 schools, and in 5 different sectional events.

NOTE: Region meets feature the top-4 qualifying for state, while the sectionals are top-12 teams.

5A Sectional 2 (Regions 4-8) *NOV 1

Habersham Central

The Raiders were paced by SO Jace Mills (19:05) and SO Jackson Weeks (19:08), who came in 161-162 in the sectional. Habersham placed 26th as a team. The Lady Raiders were 22nd, with SO Tessa Murdock (20:57, 73rd) and FR Caroline Sutton (21:54, 114th) leading the team.

3A Sectional 2 (Regions 5-8)

Dawson County

Dawson County finished 6th as a team among the 6-AAA group, with JR Eli Hamil (17:40) coming in 11th and SO Luke Wooten placing 20th with an 18:39. The Lady Tigers were Region RU, with SR Hayden Hand (19:51) 7th in the region, SO Ella Carrington (21:30, 15th), FR Madison Dorsett (21:31, 16th), and SR Addison Smith (21:43, 18th) all ran well also.

Jefferson

JR Finn Wakeman led the Dragons with a 3rd place overall finish among the sectionals runners with a 16:55, coming in as Region RU. SO William Malueg (18:17) was 13th in the region. Jefferson placed 3rd overall in 8-AAA. For the Lady Dragons, it was FR Lily Whitmire (19:36) coming in as Region RU, with SR Hannah Schroeder (20:54, 5th) and SR Lily Janning (22:44, 12th) pacing the team to a Region RU finish.

Lumpkin County

SO Witt Windham (16:00.30) was the Region Champion and 2nd overall at the Sectionals, as JR Evan Good was 5th in the region and 11th overall with a 17:12.50. The Indians were Region RU. The girls (6th place) were led by SR Keli George (20:00), who came in 8th in the region. SR Joanie Phillabaum (21:15) was 14th.

White County

The Warriors came in 4th place as a team in the region. SR Alex Brannon was Runner-Up individually (and 6th among the entire sectional) with a 17:02.21, while SO Aiden Cline (17:22) was 8th. The 4th-place girls were guided by SR Julie Black (19:40) for a 5th-place region run and SO Carly Black (19:43) at 6th. SR Emma Windham (20:42) was 11th.

Region 7-AA & 2A Sectional 1 (Regions 1,2,3,8)

Union County

In the Region 7-AA Championship meet, the Lady Panthers were led by SR Lola Hunter (21:40), who was the individual champion. SO Macy Payne (9th, 24:05), SR Avery Hussion (10th, 24:23), SO Kate Barrett (13th, 24:41), FR Neva Brott (14th, 24:53), SR Averie Tanner (16th, 25:10), and JR Grace Wright (17th, 25:19) all placed in the top-20, giving Union the Region Championship trophy. The Panthers meanwhile were the Region RU team, as SR Holden Payne was 3rd (17:08), and JRs Ander Faulkner (7th, 18:06), Noah James Payne (8th, 18:07), and Andrew Nushtayev (10th, 18:30) all came in the top-10.

Franklin County

The Lions were 4th overall, as SR Will Gipson was the individual champion for the region and sectional with a 16:13 mark. SR Evan Locke was 19th (17:44), SO Blane Dodson (18:21) was 26th, and FR Carey Brown (18:24) was 28th. The Lady Lions were also 4th in the sectionals, and were paced by SR Megan Hightower (21:26, 5th) and SO Savannah Jackson (21:29, 8th).

Stephens County

JR Gerri Setren (21:02) was 82nd overall, and SO Seth Stonecypher (21:10) was 87th as the Indians placed 18th out of 19 teams. The girls had only one runner, as FR Kaylyn Doud (30:00) placed 78th.

Region 8A DI

Banks County

The Lady Leopards got another individual region title from SR Ansley Moore (19:05), while SO Anna Dale (24:24) was 13th and JR Bailey Baker was 14th (24:25). FR Bralee Baker (26:04) was 17th as well. Banks County’s girls were Region RU as a team. The Leopards came in 6th-place, with FR Parker Dougherty (20:46) and SO Titus Nguyen (20:50) coming in 24th-25th.

Commerce

The Tigers placed 4th as a team, as SRs Will Cox (11th, 18:23) and James Truluck (15th, 19:13) were the top runners. The girls didn’t qualify as a team, but JR Belle Gary (27:54) was 23rd with a 27:54.

Rabun County

Rabun’s girls were 3rd as a team. FR Kinley Jones (4th) ran a 20:56, ans JR Esmeralda Hernandez (10th, 23:23) and SR Lindsay Whitmire (16th, 25:43) rounded out the top-20. The Wildcats came in 5th overall, with SO Graham Anderson (20:13) coming in 21st, and JR Crayton Smith (21:05) finishing 28th.

1A DII Sectional 2 (Regions 2,3,7,8)

Towns County

The Indians came in 15th place among 19 teams. SR Jason Chavero (20:27) was 51st and JR Emory Hardin (20:30) was 54th. The Towns girls were 8th out of 10, and FR Joyce Hou (24:48) was 25th and JR Mary Durham (26:41) was 42nd.

GIAA Region 4-AAA

Tallulah Falls

The Lady Indians won their first-ever Region Championship! JR Olivia Henderson came in as the Region RU individually (20:19). JR Avery Keim (3rd, 22:39) and 8th-grader Naomi Russo (5th, 22:53) made the top-5 as well. The Indians came in 5th as a team, though JR Teagan Penland (4th, 17:31) and JR Ryan Anderson (8th, 18:54) secured individual state bids with top-10 finishes.

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