The Winder-Barrow High School Lady Bulldoggs cross country team will look to earn a fourth consecutive region championship this week.
The WBHS runners will compete at the Region 8-AAAAA meet Thursday at the International Horse Park in Conyers. The Lady Bulldoggs have won the last three region titles and will aim for a fourth.
"Region is here and we are prepared physically," said Lady Bulldogg coach Amanda-Partee Manders. "Now it's a matter of getting out there and showing that we are prepared mentally as well. This is what we've been training for."
“We are aiming high,” said WBHS coach Michael Lofton.
The Lady Bulldoggs will most likely be challenged by Flowery Branch for region supremacy. The Lady Falcons went head-to-head with WBHS twice this fall with each team finishing in front once.
“They are a strong team,” Lofton said. “It makes for an exciting region. We edged Flowery Branch, but it will depend on how everything falls this year on the day of region.”
Whitley Kennedy has been trying to recover from a strained abdomen muscle and rested for most of last week, when the Lady Bulldoggs did not compete.
Teammate Caitlin Connell has run strong in each event this season. The senior finished second at region in 2011 and Lofton said it would be great for Connell to take first this time. Anna Dean, Amber Polermo, Kianna Perez, Isabel Martin and Darcy Potts will also help try to push the Lady Bulldoggs to another region title Thursday in Conyers.
In recent weeks, the Cheer Cats have been working to increase the difficulty of their stunts and tumbling.
“All stunts and tumbling hit with a few timing issues that we are definitely working on this week,” Wages said. “We had a fluke fall in the pyramid where the head judge stopped the music and gave our kids the opportunity to come back on and finish the routine from that point forward. The kids recovered unbelievably and finished strong. We were so proud of them. Because of the fluke fall, our pyramid execution was low which hurt our overall score. However, we were still overjoyed to take second place.
AHS will begin looking closely at its dance routine in order to max out in that area of the score sheet.
“We are looking at our pyramid difficulty as well,” Wages said. “We may need to add another advanced entry in order to increase the difficulty for the most points possible. We are really focusing on entertaining the crowd and making each and every motion as crisp and clean as possible. ‘Clean’ will always benefit you the most. This is when we become really nit-picky and precise with every single movement on the floor.”
Looking ahead, the Cheer Cats are ready to meet their goals.
“They have an end goal of being top six in the state and I truly believe they can do it if they will keep the drive and determination they have had,” Wages said. “But, what I love the most about this team is that they have set small attainable goals each week and have done what it has taken to reach them. With this mentality, they are capable of all things. I am excited to see what the next two weeks hold for this awesome group of athletes.”
