The East Jackson Eagles cross country team had strong performances in region competition at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville this past weekend, and now prepare for a trip to the state meet in Carrollton this weekend.
The boys’ team came away with a second place finish, following only North Oconee, while the girls placed fourth behind North Oconee, Jefferson and Dawson County.
Individually, Brandon Banks led the boys with a fourth place finish overall with a new school record time of 17:27; Kevin Kesler placed fifth with a 17:34; Terry Miller finished 15th with an 18:35; Andy Van Deventer placed 22nd with a 19:09; Eric Van Deventer finished 28th with a 19:19; Josh Kesler finished 46th with a 20:12; and Chris White finished 50th with a 20:26.
“North Oconee was just too strong for us,” said coach Bob Roller. “We beat their number one runner, but they were just too strong for us.
“The boys did well, they ran hard, and we’re very pleased.”
The boys will be making their second trip to the state meet.
For the girls, Sherri Blalock finished third overall, and set a new school record with a time of 20:04; Kassie Mull finished 10th with a 22:14; Skyler Cozzens finished 11th with a personal record time of 22:17; Amanda Anderson finished 28th with a 23:47; Dakota Chandler finished 32nd with a personal record time of 23:57; and Hope Boggs finished 38th with a 24:35.
Along with Blalock setting a new school record with her run, Roller pointed to the runs of Mull and Cozzens as other standout performances.
“Kassie Mull ran on that course two weeks ago, and she ran 41 seconds faster this time than she did two weeks ago,” he said. “Skyler Cozzens’ run was 80 seconds faster than she has ever run before.
“It was just great for the girls to make it.”
It will be the girls first trip to the state meet.
In JV competition, Blake Allbright finished second out of 48 runners with a time of 19:39, while Jon Mead turned in a time of 19:50.
