STAFF REPORT

The Cartersville boys cross country team swept the top three spots at the Region 5-AAAA championship race Thursday in Douglas County. The Woodland girls placed all five of its scorers in the top-12 of the Region 7-AAAAA meet, which the Wildcats hosted Thursday.

Both teams earned decisive wins to easily punch a ticket to their respective state championship meets next month in Carrollton. The Cartersville girls and Woodland boys also qualified for state, having placed second and third, respectively.

For the Cartersville boys, it was the three-headed monster of Bill Archer, Sidney Stegall and Alex Rios that dominated the 5k course at Clinton Farms. Archer, a junior, picked up the win in 16 minutes, 18.85 seconds; Stegall, a freshman, was runner-up in 16:24.36; and Rios, a sophomore, was 10 seconds ahead of the fourth-place finisher with a time of 16:37.10.

Levi Booth (sixth, 17:05.22) and Colin McCann (ninth, 17:22.85) rounded out the Canes scorers. Although Sam Peters (17:30.37) and Max Florence (17:44.33) didn’t break into the to-5 for Cartersville, the duo did manage to place 11th and 12th, respectively, overall to punctuate the decisiveness of the Canes victory.

Back in Bartow County, McKenna Trapheagen set a record at her home course in her final official race there. The senior and defending Class 5A individual state champion completed the 5k in 18 minutes, 16 seconds.

Woodland teammate Rylee Evans was runner-up in 19 minutes, 39.01 seconds. Danielle Thayer (21:32.19) and Marlee Bowles (21:36.44) finished back-to-back in eighth and ninth. Emma Segars finished off the Wildcats scorers with a time of 21:49.36, good enough for 12th place.

As for the Cartersville girls, Samantha Herrera was sixth on the team, but she proved to be the hero, as her 28th-place showing served as the tiebreaker to give the Canes the runner-up spot over Chapel Hill. LaGrange won the region by four points.

McKinsey Spinks placed second overall in 20 minutes, 22.95 seconds. Trinity Atkins sprinted into the top 5 with a time of 21:20.02, finishing fourth. Jaxiry Betancourt (21:40.80) wound up eighth; Alice Terry (22:36.67) placed 19th; and Trista Kelly (23:02.55) came in 25th.

The Woodland boys finished third behind Rome and Carrollton. Patrick Bollwerk led the locals, placing eighth in 17:19.74. Teammates Tyler Jones (17:31.86) and Dylan Stermer (17:36.86) were ninth and 11th, respectively. John Forsyth (18:01.00) and McKinley Chappell (18:16.06) rounded out the Wildcats’ top-5.

Andrew Glaze paced the Cass boys, crossing the finish line in 17 minutes, 37.92 seconds to earn 12th. For the Cass girls, Jessica Zukowsky led the way, finishing 38th in 24:50.02.

The 4A boys race will be at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 1 — the first of the two-day state meet. It will be followed by the 4A girls at 9:45. The 5A girls close out the opening day, taking off at 12:45 p.m. That will come right after the 5A boys, who will race at noon.