Columbus girls also finish short
By CHRIS WHITE
cwhite@ledger-enquirer.com
Jordan’s Ian Edwards and Columbus’ Charlie Sparks went to the GHSA cross country championships Saturday at Carrollton looking to add to their state title collections, but both fell seconds short.
Edwards finished second in the boys Class AA race with a time of 16:24.73, but he helped the Red Jackets finish 10th. Cross Key’s Ayala Leonel won with a time of 16:22.44.
Edwards overtook Leonel at the final curve but lost the lead on a hill.
“We were thinking the kid was going to get tired on that hill and we’d overtake him, but he just took off,” Jordan coach Russell Scott said. “We were thinking he’d get tired, but he just turned it on.”
Edwards finished first last year and is the reigning Class AA 2-mile track champion.
Sparks finished third in the Class AAA race with a time of 15:58.43. He won Class AAA as a freshman and sophomore but missed last year’s state meet due to injury. He hoped to finish his high school career with a third state title, but he came out too eager, said Columbus coach Linda Korcha.
“Charlie took off a little too fast and then died a little at the end,” Korcha said. “He was probably leading the first 2 1/2 miles, but they caught him when he slowed down.”
Woodward Academy’s Nathan Vassey (15:35.95) and North Hall’s Ty McCormack (15:47.98) finished ahead of Sparks.
The Columbus boys finished 14th. Jordan’s 10th-place finish was the highest of any area boys team.
The Columbus girls were looking to repeat as team champions but fell short as well. They placed sixth in Class AAA with 176 points. Three Blue Devils runners finished in the top 20: No. 14 Jessica Ridley (20:30.61), No. 17 Rio Watson (20:38.78) and No. 18 Shae Tirado (20:40.63).
Boys
Class A
Top teams: No. 1 Wesleyan, 48; No. 2 Athens Christian, 73; No. 3 Providence, 123; No. 4 Pace, 131; No. 5 Mount Peran Christian, 146.
No. 15 Brookstone: No. 67 Ben Page, 19:18.12; No. 87 Frank Flournoy, 19:45.13; No. 88 Steve Williams, 19:45.75; No. 90. Alex Ridley, 19:47.56; No. 112 McKay Sheftall, 20:23.67.
Pacelli (DNP): No. 47 John Reed Walker, 18:36.02.
Class AA
Top teams: Westminster, 40; No. 2 East Jackson, 101; No. 3 Lovett, 123; No. 4 North Oconee, 125; No. 5 Benedictine Military, 174.
No. 10 Jordan: No. 2 Ian Edwards, 16:24.73; No. 73 David Sobasky, 19:08.95; No. 84 Nick Scott, 19:18.57; No. 121 Alex Olavares, 20:09.76; No. 126 Julian Plowden, 20:13.05.
No. 27 Callaway: No. 48 Brandon Hontz, 18:37.06; No. 173 Ryan Kiss, 21:29.41; No. 210 Kyle Czarnonyc, 24:25.05; No. 215 Allen Harper, 24:52.12.
Class AAA
Top teams: No. 1 Flowery Branch, 72; No. 2 Eagle’s Landing 137; No. 3 Creekview, 148; No. 4 North Hall, 153; No. 5 Dunwoody, 182.
No. 14 Columbus: No. 3 Charlie Sparks, 15:58.43; No. 62 Adam Jones, 18:03.33; No. 87 Preston Jones, 18:26.63; No. 127 Jacob Mapel, 19:10.16; No. 133 Scott Morgan, 19:18.41.
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