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Clarkston Boys 5-5A Champs
By Mark Brock
DCSD Athletics
DeKalb County School District picked up four team region titles, six runners-up finishes while qualifying 17 teams for the state meets set for November 2-3 at Carrollton.
Tucker boys (4-6A), Clarkston boys (5-5A), Chamblee girls (5-5A) and Druid Hills girls (4-4A) all claimed region championships while Martin Luther King Jr. boys and girls (4-6A), Lakeside girls (4-7A), Chamblee boys (5-5A), Southwest DeKalb girls (5-5A) and Druid Hills boys (4-4A) all finished as runners-up.
The other teams to qualify for state include Lakeside boys (4-7A), Arabia Mountain boys (5-5A), Southwest DeKalb boys (5-5A), Clarkston girls (5-5A), Miller Grove girls (5-5A), Stone Mountain boys (5-3A) and Cedar Grove girls (5-3A).
DeKalb also had four runners capture individual region titles and a fifth runner qualified for state by finishing in the Top 12 despite her team just missing out on a trip to the state meet.
Class 6A
The Tucker Tigers went to the Lovejoy Soccer Complex in Hampton and came away with top prize in the Region 4-6A boys’ championships 49-54 over an improving Martin Luther King Jr. squad.
Putting three runners in the Top 10 and five in the Top 20 led by Yesahk Ergano’s second place finish in a time of 17:19.38 aided the Tigers run to the top. Abedelemejid Kerebo (17:54.29) was fifth and Ian Nuhfer (18:11.27) was seventh for the three Top 10 finishers for the Tigers.
Yordanos Ephram (18:38.96) and Adil Ahmed (18:42.08) finished back-to-back in 17thand 18thto complete the win.
The Lions’ Demetrius Carson, a four-time winner in DeKalb races this fall, led his team to second place overall and a berth in the Class 6A State Meet on Friday, November 2 (9:00 am) as he took individual honors with a time of 17:15.99. Teammates joining him in the Top 15 were in sixth Zaire Anderson-Brown (18:00.96), Darian Wragg (18:27.58) in 13thand Kingsley Harris (18:31.73) in 15th.
Mt. Zion Jonesboro won the girls’ race by nipping the Martin Luther King Jr. Lady Lions 54-55 for the title.
The Lady Lions put five runners in the Top 15 led by Aaliyah Peterson (23:02.33) in seventh and Niyah Brown (23:22.08) in 10th. Aaliyah Stewart (24:00.92) in 11th, Demetria Lind (24:16.96) in 13thand Star Grier-Rower (24:19.76) rounded out the Top 15 finishers for King.
In Region 7-6A, both Dunwoody teams came up short of qualifying for the state meet with the girls finishing fifth and the boys in eighth. Dunwoody’s Anna Mothner did qualify for the Class 6A girls’ state meet with her seventh place finish with a time of 20:39.43.
MLK Demetrius Carson MG Emoni Coleman
Class 5A
The all-DeKalb Region 5-5A meet took place at the Druid Hills Middle School course last Saturday with Clarkston (boys) and Chamblee (girls) claiming the team titles.
Clarkston cruised to a 17-42 win over Chamblee for the boys’ title as the Angoras six runners in the Top 10 to their sixth consecutive (2013-2018) region title under Coach Wesley Etienne.
The three-time state champions Angoras were led by Piyo Micheale (17:02.00) who won the boys’ individual title and was followed in order by Thadde Barge (17:02.00), Rukundo Uwimana (17:28.40) and Firomsa Ibrahim (17:34.80) to sweep the top four places at the finish.
Nahome Tewolde (19:00.60) was seventh and Abdijabar Hersi (19:49.90) was ninth to round out the Angoras’ Top 10 finishers.
Chambee’s second place overall finish was aided by three Bulldogs crossing the finish line in the Top 10. Bennett Solomon (17:43.70) was the first Bulldog to cross taking fifth and was followed by Thomas Burgett (18:16.80) in sixth. George Williams (19:31.60) was the third Chamblee runner to cross the finish line as he came in eighth.
Arabia Mountain came in third in the team standings led by Torrance Allen’s 10thplace finish in 19:56.70. Southwest DeKalb took fourth to also qualify for the Class 5A state meet on Friday, November 2 at 10:30 am.
The Chamblee Lady Bulldogs grabbed top honors in the 5-5A girls’ race getting the nod over Southwest DeKalb 40-47.
Clarkston (70) was third and Miller Grove (72) finished fourth to claim a first-ever trip to the state meet.
Chamblee grabbed four of the Top 10 spots including the group of Hattie Carter (23:46.10), Madeline Miller (24:15.60) and Laila Elmattrawy (24:19.50) finishing in fifth through seventh, respectively. Emily Brown took the final Top 10 slot with a time of 24:47.60 to grab 10th.
Southwest DeKalb’s Lanee Edwards (22:54.40) was second overall and Raven Thurman (23:42.30) was fourth to lead the Lady Panthers state qualifying run.
Third place Clarkston put two runners in the Top 10 in Colette Milak (23:39.00) in third and Griselda Gonzalez (24:40.90) in ninth.
Miller Grove’s Emoni Coleman, a track state champion, running in just her second race captured the girls’ gold medal with a time of 21:42.70. Lauryn Griggs eight place finish in 24:26.40 helped Miller Grove to clinch the state meet berth.
Class 4A
Druid Hills picked up the championship trophy in the Region 4-4A girls’ title race in a close 26-29 victory over Woodward Academy on Thursday night at Nash Farms Battlefield in Hampton.
The Lady Red Devils took half the Top 10 spots for the win led by a two-three finish by Sophie Shephard (21:18.76) and Genevieve Ferrara (21:20.23). Katie Blount (22:57.43) rounded out the Top 5 in fifth with Charlotte Walker (23:22.63) coming in seventh and Asena Anderson (23:34.75) in ninth.
Druid Hills came in second in another close race with Woodward in the boys’ division falling 29-36 in qualifying for the Class 4A State Meet in Carrollton on Saturday, November 3 at 12:30 pm (boys) and 1:15 pm (girls).
The Red Devils collected three Top 10 awards as Carter Rathur (17:45.95) took the gold and teammate Ian Shunk (17:46.33) picked up the silver in a one-two finish by the two teammates. Siddhartha Narker (18:21.30) was ninth to aid the Druid Hills cause.
Class 7A
The Lakeside Lady Vikings finished second in the tough Area 4-7A championships on Saturday led by three Top 10 finishes in a close race with Mill Creek coming up short 85-90.
Emma Hanson (20:11.83) was fourth for the Lady Vikings while Abigail McHoul (20:34.44) was seventh and Sydney DeWoody (20:39.95) was eighth. Lakeside is set for an 8:45 am start at the state meet in Carrollton on Saturday, November 3.
The Vikings managed fifth in the talented Area 4-7A boys’ championship led by an impressive time of 16:30.20 by Mikias Mekonen, the DCSD boys’ champ. Mekonen finished second overall as the Vikings qualified for the state meet in Carrollton on Saturday, November 3 at 8:00 am.
Class 3A
The Stone Mountain Pirates and Cedar Grove Lady Saints picked up state qualifying fourth place finishes in the Region 5-3A championship at Westminster on Wednesday.
Mohamed Dirie (19:31.26) was the top Pirate to finish as he came in 22ndin the boys’ division. Cedar Grove’s Sydney Mitchell also took 22ndwith a time of 26:40.31 in the girls’ race.
DCSD CROSS COUNTRY STATE SCHEDULE
Nov. 2-3, 2018
Carrollton High School
Friday, Nov. 2, 2018
9:00 am – 6A Boys (M.L. King, Tucker) 9:45 am – 6A Girls (M.L. King) 10:30 am – 5A Boys (Clarkston, Chamblee, SW DeKalb, Arabia Mountain) 11:15 am – 5A Girls (Clarkston, Chamblee, SW DeKalb, Miller Grove)
Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018
8:00 am – 7A Boys (Lakeside) 8:45 am – 7A Girls (Lakeside) 11:00 am – 3A Boys (Stone Mountain) 11:45 am – 3A Girls (Cedar Grove) 12:30 pm – 4A Boys (Druid Hills) 1:15 pm – 4A Girls (Druid Hills)