On a day that was tailor-made for distance running, the Lady Devils made history by earning the school’s first-ever region cross-country championship. Led by freshman Taylor Phillips, the Lady Devils captured the 7-AA crown at Georgia Highlands College.
In the boys meet, Rockmart breezed to its fourth consecutive title by having four runners finish among the top-6.
The two winning teams each took home large trophies, and also secured their spots at next weekend’s Class AA state meet in Carrollton.
“Coming into today, I felt very strongly that we could do this,” said Model girls coach Kelly Staud. “And this is a very exciting time for the girls. It’s something for them to be proud of.”
Calhoun’s J.B. Box won the boys meet with a time of a 17:24, but Rockmart took the team title by bunching together four runners in second, third, fourth and sixth place.
The group included: Ethan Purser (2nd at 17:51), Brock Shanks (3rd, 17:57), Micah Andrews (4th, 18:10) and Matt Bishop (6th, 18:15).
Coosa’s Hylton Hamilton was fifth at 18:15.
“There was a little bit of extra pressure on us today,” said Rockmart coach Darrell Lee, referring to the Jackets’ attempt to continue their title streak, “but the guys did a great job. They know the work they’ve done to get here, and they (capped) it today.”
In the girls meet, Model finished with 51 points, and was followed by Calhoun (75), Gordon Central (108) and Dade County (108). On the boys’ side, Rockmart finished with 23 points, followed by Calhoun (74), Coosa (86) and Pepperell (92).
Each of those eight teams are ticketed for Carrollton next weekend.
Individually, Pepperell’s Brittney Mathis (second overall at 23:01) and Rockmart’s Courtney Reeves (fifth at 23:49) earned solo flights to state.
The trip to Carrollton has become an annual tradition for Lee’s Rockmart team.
“I’ve been with the program for seven years, and during that time, we’ve really increased the volume of the workload,” said Lee. “And we’ve been fortunate to have a group of guys that are dedicated to what we’re doing. … For me, it’s nice knowing that this current group of seniors will leave (the program) having won four straight region titles.”
Thursday’s individual winners — Model’s Phillips and Calhoun’s Box — had both previously competed in races at Georgia Highlands, and they used their familiarly with the course to their advantage.
“I’ve run here several times, and I really like it,” said Phillips, who finished at 22:44. “It’s a flat, easy course.
Added Box: “It’s good to know a course before you come out and run it (because) you know the turns and the layout. That helps.”
Phillips, who claimed her first victory of the season, said she and her Model teammates were anticipating that Thursday could be a special day.
“We were pumped about it all day at school,” she said.
Phillips said she first realized that she had a legitimate shot at the title about two-thirds of the way through the race.
“I was running around the second loop (in the woods behind the school) and I thought to myself ‘hey, I’ve got a chance to do this,” she said.
Box, meanwhile, said he wasn’t thrilled with his performance, but still came away feeling like he took a positive step for next weekend’s race.
“I really wanted to do better today than I did,” said Box, “but I think (as a team) we did well … and this will give us momentum for state.”
On the girls’ side, the order of finish behind Phillips was: Model’s Mathis (23:01) in second, Calhoun’s Mili Galvan (23:41) in third, Dade County’s Brittney Thurman (23:46) in fourth, Rockmart’s Courtney Reeves (23:49) in fifth, and Dade County’s Mary Gromek (23:52) in sixth.
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