The Boys Cross Country team travelled to Dellinger Park in Cartersville to compete in the 36th annual Cass-Cartersville Invitational. This is the longest running weekday meet in Georgia. The team goal was simple: improve on last year's finish and compete for a team trophy (last year JV-8th, Varsity-7th). Congratulations to both the Varsity and JV for meeting, and exceeding, the goal with first place finishes for both teams.
Varsity notes:
The Invitational awarded trophies to the top four teams and medals to the top 20 individuals.
The Varsity competed in the second race of the afternoon. With two JV runners breaking 19:00 in the earlier race, the pressure was on the Varsity to perform. Right from the start, two Douglas County runners set the pace; Raider Mark Shutley was close behind. Just before the first mile, Shutley surged to the front and built a commanding lead by the halfway point. When a Duluth High School runner charged into second place in the final stretch, Shutley did not give up any ground. He maintained his lead to finish first with a 17:15 PR.
In the overall team scoring, five Raider runners formed a nice pack: Trey Dotson, Jeffrey Edge, Willie Herrigel, Baxter Shirey, and Luis Zambrano. In order to challenge for the win, the Raider pack needed to jockey ahead of Cartersville's three runners and Douglas County's four runners. At the two-mile mark, the Raiders were still bunched together holding the 16th-20th places.
In the final mile, Andrew Ungashick started to gain ground; he passed Cartersville's and Douglas County's #5 runners. With only .5 mile remaining, four other Raiders surged ahead. Each spot gained was crucial. Although Cartersville claimed the #3, #4, and #5 spots, the Raider push broke up Douglas County's front pack. The Raider's team depth prevailed vs. the opposition's front runners. The Raiders emerged with their tightest finish of the season with only seven seconds and six places separating the #2 thru #5 finishers. Edge finished 11th; Herrigel finished 14th; Dotson was 15th; Shirey was 16th. Zambrano held on to take 21st; Ungashick moved up to 23rd, coming in ahead of Cartersville's #5 runner. Those few spots gained at the end clinched the six point victory for the Raiders over Cartersville, 57-63.
Varsity PR's: Mark Shutley, Jeffrey Edge, Willie Herrigel, Trey Dotson (tied), and Luis Zambrano
JV notes:
The Invitational awarded trophies to the top three teams and medals to the top ten individuals
Reece Bernard took the early lead for the Raiders. By the first mile, he had a solid 13 second lead over a small pack which included Bayne Jarvis and Erick Ramirez, battling for second. The chase group experienced a great deal of jockeying in the second mile. Erick Ramirez moved to the front of the group in an effort to chase the lead. Then, Gerardo Camacho broke from a trailing group to bridge the gap to the chase pack. Myles White patiently waited in the rear until he launched a last mile assault on those in front of him.
At the two mile mark, Bernard maintained a 10 second edge; however, Ramirez separated from the pack to challenge the lead. Also making moves into the top 20 and going after a top 10 finish were Nasir Muhammad, Gerardo Camacho, Juan Gasperin, Sam Miller, and Myles White. In the final 600 meters, Ramirez passed Bernard to claim the first place finish with a 18:45 PR. Bernard finished second (18:56). Camacho's track legs came in handy down the stretch as he battled for a coveted top ten finish; he passed three runners in the last 200 meters to finish 9th overall and a PR. Rounding out the top seven (plus one) for the JV were Myles White (13th), Bayne Jarvis (14th), Nasir Muhammad (15th), Sam Miller (16th), and Juan Gasperin (17th). It was an extremely satisfying group effort to earn the first place team trophy.
JV PR's: Erick Ramirez, Gerardo Camacho, Myles White, Nasir Muhammad, Sam Miller, Juan Gasperin, John Henry Fitzgerald, Yair Barranca, William Madden, Jared Mills, Edgar Avalos, Edgar Losza, Jonah Mills, and Jack Buehner
The Boys Cross Country team's next race is Tuesday, October 13th at Crow's Lake in Jefferson. This is a much tougher course so times will not be as fast. The Raiders look forward to battling for top finishes as they prepare for region.
