Lady Cats set new team mark, place 2nd at Alexander Invite

The defending Class AAAAA state champion girls cross country team at Woodland High School finished second Saturday at the Alexander/Asics Invitational and established a new team record in the process.

The race was competed on a 5K course at Fox Hall Farms Sporting Club near Douglasville and was hosted by Alexander High School.

The Woodland girls team averaged 19:18.31 from its top five runners, setting a new team mark for best average time.

Westminster won the girls championship division race with 86 points. Woodland followed with 122. Starrs Mill (135), Alexander (136), and Landmark Christian (147) rounded out the top five of 20 teams in the division.

Naima Turbes of Westminster was the individual girls winner. She ran 17:27 to finish three seconds ahead of Jones County’s Erin Leonard.

Sophomore Carli Clymer led Woodland with a 16th place finish in 18:57. She was followed by teammates Angela Cochran (19:07, 18th), Lindsay Scifers (19:23, 29th), McKenna Trapheagen (19:28, 33rd), Baylee Evans (19:35.43, 37th), Cheyenne Spinks (19:35.77, 38th), Avery Hull (22:19, 114th), Anna Payne (23:24, 143rd), and Lexis Bubrick (23:32, 146th).

The Woodland boys team competed in the Class 5A - 7A division and placed 13th of 37 teams.

The division was won by Chattahoochee with Newnan, Decatur, Cherokee, and Eagle’s Landing rounding out the top five teams.

Antaures Jackson of Eagle’s Landing won the individual title in the division with a 5K time of 15:53. He was 17 seconds ahead of Mykal Hogue of Cherokee. The division included 328 runners.

For the Woodland boys, Levi Brandenburg had a team best 17:20 run to place 29th. He was followed by teammates Dylan Stermer (17:43, 60th), Reece Mitchell (17:51, 68th), Kobe Cochran (18:23, 99th), Dawson McClure (18:27, 106th), Tracy Grimes (18:58, 149th), Patrick Bollwerk (18:59, 150th), Gabe Shephard (19:07, 161st), Bryant Knox (19:22, 179th), and Noah Warren (20:00, 227th)

The next race for Woodland is this coming Saturday at Gainesville College in the Nike/Fleet Feet Coach Wood Invitational.