Region 7-AA cross country teams converged on Georgia Highlands College on Thursday afternoon with hopes of clinching a spot in next Saturday’s state cross country meet in Carrollton.

By the end of the 7-AA Region meet, those dreams had been realized for four girls and four boys teams.

The Armuchee girls rode the strong legs of freshman Natalie Shoemaker and several other top 10-finishers to win an overall region championship. Shoemaker won the individual title with a time of 22:09.

Armuchee led the overall team standings with 66 points, while Pepperell (87), Coosa (114) and Dade County (115) rounded out the top four and punched their tickets for Carrollton.

“I’m pretty excited for our team,” said Armuchee coach Scott Pierce. “It’s our first region championship in cross country even though we’ve been to state before.

“We’ll look at the times that people ran last year at state, but I see us hopefully finishing top 15.”

Shoemaker was followed by Pepperell’s Brittney Mathis (22:15) in second. Calhoun’s Mili Galvan (22:45), Pepperell’s Anna Beth Leroy (23:04) and Mikayla Wilson (23:31) and Taylor Phillips (23:38) rounded out the top six.

“It feels pretty good to win as a freshman,” said Shoemaker of the win. “Since I’ve won this, I’ll just try to beat my school record.

“I have no idea how I’ll do at state. I’m just going to do my best.”

Shoemaker also played softball for Armuchee this fall which only allowed her to run an abbreviated cross country schedule.

Galvan and Phillips both qualified for state by finishing in the top six individually even though their teams didn’t finish in the top four.

The Rockmart boys won their fifth straight region championship by finishing first in the team results with 22 points. The Yellow Jackets had five runners finish in the top eight led by the boys’ individual champion Brock Shanks, who ran a 17:46.

“It means a lot to win it for the fifth time in a row,” said Rockmart coach Darrell Lee. “I’ve been blessed with a good group of runners, and I’m happy that these seniors will graduate having won the region all four years they were here.

“It’s tough on the state level, but I think we can run in the top five.”

Pepperell (55) finished second in the boys standings followed by Calhoun (78) and Gordon Central (108) to join Rockmart as the four boys teams headed to state.

Behind Shanks was teammate Ethan Purser (18:15) in second. Calhoun took third and fourth with Abraham Rodriguez (18:30) and Alex Hernandez (18:38) respectively. Two more Rockmart runners in Brad Hunt (18:44) and Matt Bishop (18:52) took fifth and sixth.

“It feels good to win it because it’s something I haven’t done,” said Shanks. “I would say this is the pinnacle of my cross country career.”

The teams and runners will now have a little over a week to prepare for the state meet on Nov. 7 when the Class AA boys will run at 1 p.m. and girls at 1:30 p.m.

Region 7-AA Results

BOYS

Team scores: Rockmart, 22; Pepperell, 55; Calhoun, 78; Gordon Central, 108; Coosa, 116; Adairsville, 157; Armuchee, 224; Dade County, 252; Model, 307; Sonoraville, 305

Individual Top Ten

1. Brock Shanks (Rockmart), 17:46

2. Ethan Purser (Rockmart), 18:15

3. Abraham Rodriguez (Calhoun), 18:30

4. Alex Hernandez (Calhoun), 18:38

5. Brad Hunt (Rockmart), 18:44

6. Matt Bishop (Rockmart), 18:52

7. Jordan Worthey (Pepperell), 19:02

8. Brett Cospin (Rockmart), 19:16

9. Nicholas Williams (Pepperell), 19:28

10. Cameron Walsh (Pepperell), 19:34

GIRLS

Team scores: Armuchee, 66; Pepperell, 87; Coosa, 114; Dade County, 115; Calhoun, 120; Rockmart, 124; Adairsville, 167; Gordon Central, 168; Model, 203

Individual Top Ten

1. Natalie Shoemaker (Armuchee), 22:09

2. Brittney Mathis (Pepperell), 22:15

3. Mili Galvan (Calhoun), 22:45

4. Anna Beth Leroy (Pepperell), 23:04

5. Mikayla Wilson (Pepperell), 23:31

6. Taylor Phillips (Model), 23:38

7. Courtney Reeves (Rockmart), 23:54

8. Mary Gromek (Dade County), 24:26

9. Caley Chambers (Armuchee), 24:39.10

10. Kristen Shiflett (Armuchee), 24:39.75