Pisgah Boys Take Third in Cross Country Meet

[Story submitted by Mount Pisgah Christian School.]

Competing in the toughest Region in Class A, the cross country teams had their work cut out for them to finish in the top four and qualify for the state meet. The boys put together a strong team performance to finish third overall in the Region 5A meet, beating out Providence, Pace and Holy Innocents.

“The boys team turned in the performance of the season. It was a true team effort with incredible contributions from all top seven runners,” said head coach Susan Reilly. “The course was slow, but the boys’ placement couldn’t have been more perfect. There is a saying in cross country that you are only as good as your fifth runner, and Bo Stuart did more than was expected of him, finishing in front of the No. 5 runners for Providence, Holy Innocents’ and Pace, pushing their scores up and keeping us in position for a state berth.”

Sam Reilly (16:49) led the way finishing second overall behind Wesleyan’s Bradley Gossett. Rounding out the top five were Shane Sullivan (15th place, 17:53), Grant Hicks (21st place, 18:33), Chris Spriggs (29th place, 19:02) and Bo Stuart (35th place, 19:23).

Wesleyan won the event with Galloway finishing second.

The Pisgah girl’s finished seventh out of 11 teams. The top seven teams in the region had been ranked in the top ten at some point this season. Katie Strawinski finished ninth overall with a time of 21:35 to lead the Lady Patriots.

Freshmen Mattie Millikan (21st place, 22:25) and Alex Brady (47th place, 25:55) both set personal records. Alexa Hudgins (37th place, 23:56), Katherine Wilkison (41st place, 24:12) and Marie Keeter (52nd place, 27:16) were the other scorers for Pisgah

The girls’ team is made up of two freshmen, three sophomores and two juniors and should be a force to reckon with in 2012.

The boys’ team will compete in the GHSA Class A State Championship meet in Carrollton on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 10 a.m.