League supremacy was at stake last Tuesday when Jones County hosted the Middle Georgia Middle School Athletic League (MGMSAL) meet on its home course. And both middle school teams delivered, with the girls’ team claiming a region title and the boys’ team taking second.
The girls’ title run was led by Madison Marshall. The sixth-grader ran a 13:13.11 to claim an individual conference title for a team that placed five runners in the top 10 and seven within the top 15. Phoebe Palmer took second place with a time of 14:27.96, while Kaitlyn Flickinger was sixth (15:29.48), Sydney Vaughan placed eighth (15:34.02) while Baileigh Gowan (15:38) and Kloe McMillan (9th, 15:39.60) finished in the top 10.
Kennedy Marshall placed 11th (15:49.25), and Lili Cook rounded out the scoring in 14th place (16:42.49).
Cruz Hudgins’ sixthplace finish on a time of 13:15.85 led the boys to a second-place finish ahead of Rhett Renner’s 13:32.20 that was good for tenth.
Also pacing the way was Brooks Scott in 11th (13:38.56) and sixthgrader Colton Gordon in 12th (13:40.58) as they finished within seconds of each other. Knox Watson placed 22nd (14:27.91), while Cole Brown (30th, 14:59.87) and Owen Darley (32nd, 15:11.78) continued strong performances.
Bentley Cook (37th, 15:47.48), Wade Smith (43rd, 16:33.71), Elijah Clopton (46th, 17:13.80), Kyle Warren (53rd, 18:56.36), and Eli Massengale (55th, 19:11.42) all contributed to the team score with competitive efforts.
Both teams now shift their focus to the Georgia Middle School State Cross Country Championship on Oct. 11 in Cochran.
