White County Girls, Union County Boys Dominate Season Opener; Towns County Girls Place Ninth

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. — White County High School's girls team and host Union County High School's boys team captured top honors at the Union County Season Opener cross country meet Thursday, Aug. 28 at Meek's Park, with Towns County High School's girls squad placing ninth in a field of nine scoring teams.

Towns County's girls finished with 225 points, led by junior Mary Durham, who crossed the line 45th overall in 31:20.37. Freshman Joyce Hou followed closely in 46th at 31:22.47, with freshman Maelei Johnstone in 58th at 33:32.66, senior Jamie McCarter in 66th at 35:59.44 and freshman Molly Howell in 71st at 37:48.09. Juniors Payten Wolf (77th, 40:15.35) and Katelyn Walls (79th, 40:41.66) rounded out the team's seven runners. The Indians' total time was 2:50:03.03 for an average of 34:00.61 per runner.

Towns County did not field a full boys team but had four individual competitors. Senior Jason Chavero paced the group in 65th at 23:27.67, followed by junior Emory Hardin in 78th at 24:09.72, sophomore Will Walls in 113th at 27:39.66 and sophomore Christopher Houser in 133rd at 37:48.08.

In the girls' race, White County dominated with 41 points, powered by sophomore Carly Black's winning time of 21:17.29 and senior Julie Black's runner-up finish in 21:25.89. Gilmer High placed second with 48 points, and Union County took third with 52. Other team results included Johnson HS (fourth, 137), Rockmart High School (fifth, 141), Rabun County (sixth, 164), Tri-County Early College (seventh, 172) and Georgia Cumberland Academy (eighth, 214).

Senior Lola Hunter of Union County was the top local finisher, taking third in 22:12.40. Other notable performances included senior Fern Crayton of Tri-County Early College in fourth (22:39.89) and freshman Ella Schwartz of Gilmer in fifth (22:43.36).

The boys' competition saw Union County edge Rockmart 44-52 for the team title. Senior Holden Payne led the Panthers with a first-place time of 18:12.16. Rockmart sophomore Trevor Oscarson was second in 18:21.14, followed by White County sophomore Aiden Cline in third at 18:32.66.

Johnson HS and White County tied for third with 109 points each, but Johnson claimed the spot via tiebreaker. Gilmer placed fifth with 111, Horizon Christian Academy sixth with 181, Rabun County seventh with 184, Georgia Cumberland Academy eighth with 197 and Ringgold High School ninth with 220.

Other top boys included sophomore Christian Chaves of Horizon Christian in fourth (19:03.85) and senior Selvin Perez of Johnson in fifth (19:10.82)