The Banks County High School cross country team took to the home course last Thursday afternoon. The Leopards finished in second place in the boys meet.
"Thursday was a huge success,” said Coach Kelly McDuffie. “We had middle school and high school meets on the same day. There were at least 250 spectators and runners present at the meet. We like to include our middle school every chance they get because they are the feeder program for us and Coach Robin Watson does a great job. Thursday's meet was very emotional because we lost a teammate. Daniel Tatum was a member of our cross country team. The team wore black ribbons in memory of Daniel. We presented his family with his team shirt."
In the girls race, Makayla Hewell finished with a time of 25:41 and placed second, Carli Broome finished with a time of 27:14 placing fifth, Hannah Brown finished with a time of 28:10 placing eighth, Cheyenne Campbell finished with a time of 31:13 placing 21st in the race. With injuries and sickness, BCHS did not have enough runners to compete in the team score.
There were five teams with only two completing a team score, Rabun 48 and Habersham 61.
In the race, Tuan Pham finished with a time of 20:16 placing third, Jose Diaz finished with a time of 20:54 placing fourth, Andrew Elliott finished with a time of 21:42 placing eighth, Harris Day finished with a time of 23;06 placing 25th, Taylor Wood finished with a time of 23:09 placing 26th, Jonathan Dempsey finished with a time of 23:24 placing 27th, Bradley Evans finished with a time of 23:28 placing 28th, Dylon Bonilla finished with a time of 23:31 placing 30th, Gabriel Espinoza finished with a time of 24:23 placing 32nd, Adan Gonzalez finished with a time of 24:45 placing 33rd, Chris Willis finished with a time of 25:52 placing 38th and Angel Serrano finished with a time of 29:09 placing 48th in the race.
Taylor Smith ran in the Two mile race with a time of 16:34 placing 10th. Smith is a first year rookie runner for the Leopards.
The team results: 1. Stephens 31, 2. BANKS 66, 3. Habersham 78, 4. Rabun 95, 5. Franklin 200.
"We are really excited about the season,” McDuffie said. “The runners are working so hard. They have really come along. I think we will surprise some people this year."
The Leopards next run will be Saturday, September 8, at the North Georgia Technical Invitation meet in Clarkesville with a start time of 10 a.m.
