Bleckley County cross country enjoys Royal day at GHSA finals

Bleckley County’s cross country program enjoyed a wildly successful day Friday in Carrollton, winning the GHSA Class 2A cross country championships in both boys and girls competition.

The Royals won the boys championship for the second straight year, edging Banks County 43-55. Dodge County placed sixth with 213 points, while Lamar County came in eighth at 285.

Points are scored in cross country by how individual runners finish: one point for first, two for second, and so on. The lowest score wins.

Carl Ellis Corley also repeated as individual champion. He ran the 5,000-meter race in 17 minutes, 19.48 seconds, beating second-place Clayton Scarborough of Dodge County by 7.53 seconds.

Garrett Rogers of Bleckley County placed fifth in 18:00.07, while teammate Dayton Cannon took ninth in 18:26.69. Another Bleckley County runner, C.J. Rich, finished 13th, while Dodge County’s Dakota Rowland came in 15th. Bleckley County’s Bronson Sanders took 15th.

Bleckley County defeated Rabun County 80-117 for the girls title. Lamar County finished eighth with 250 points.

Monticello didn’t field a full team at the state meet, but Hurricanes runners finished 1-2. Mari Jablonski won the meet in 21:37.18, while Alina Jablonski took second in 21:52.90. Bleckley County’s Macy Moe finished third in 22:04.21.

Also, Bleckley County’s Austin Perez placed 13th and Washington County’s Ashlee Dixon finished 14th.

The Class 1A private championships also were held Friday, along with the Class 7A championships. No Middle Georgia teams finished in the top 10, and no Middle Georgia individuals finished in the top 20.

The remainder of the GHSA cross country championships will be contested Saturday in Carrollton.

This story was originally published November 4, 2016 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Bleckley County cross country enjoys Royal day at GHSA finals."