The Boys Cross Country team finished a strong 8th out of 14 teams at the Region 7-AAAAA Region meet on Saturday, November 1. It was a bitterly cold, windy day with snow flurries at Boling Park in Canton and fast times were the norm. Of the 24 Raider runners, 22 set personal best times and the other two runners were within seconds of achieving new records. The Varsity team finished 8th out of 14 teams.
Owen McDaniel led the way placing 4th overall in 16:25. Finishing in the top six qualifies McDaniel for the November 8 GHSA 2014 State Cross Country Championship in Carrollton. Surprisingly, McDaniel was left out of the Region preview article as "One to Watch," which gave him added motivation to surpass runners who had bested him earlier in the season. The remainder of the team was equally successful. Rounding out the top five Raider runners were Alec Nathan, Mark Shutley, Willie Herrigel, and Bayne Jarvis. Nathan finished 42nd (17:53) for his first ever under-18 minute run. Shutley and Herrigel crossed in low 18 times. Jarvis posted his fifth consecutive PR and his first sub-19 time (18:53). Luis Zambrano and Adil Rarbaje ran low 19's just a few seconds off their PR's.
In the JV Race, the Raiders finished in 6th place with Andrew Ungashick crossing the tape 12th overall (18:24). Following Ungashick were Reece Bernard, Ben Shaw, Shamar Moore, Chris Johnson, Jeffrey Edge, and Albert Xiong. Every JV runner set a new PR.
Other JV notes:
Shamar Moore and Chris Johnson: first time under 20:00, and almost broke 19
Jeffrey Edge: broke 21:00 and 20:00 for the first time
Albert Xiong: under 20 for the first time in his last race (Senior)
Ari Soran: set a PR at 20:04 in his last race (Senior)
