Woodland girls and boys win Pickens & Grinnin' Invitational; Cass boys eighth

The Woodland girls and boys cross country teams both won the Saturday varsity races in Jasper at the Pickens & Grinnin’ Invitational hosted by Pickens County at Roper Park.

The Woodland girls finished 14 points ahead of Campbell with Fellowship Christian placing third. The competition included 14 teams and 106 runners.

In the boys race, Woodland finished 14 points ahead of Chestatee with Forsyth Central placing third.

The Cass boys were eighth of 15 teams with 129 total runners.

Senior Danielle Thayer ran to an eighth place individual finish (21:00) to lead the Lady Cats. Her four scoring teammates finished closely together including Olivia Berry (18th, 21:35), Emma Segars (19th, 21:39), Miranda Pelow (20th, 21:41), and Abby George (22nd, 21:47).

The Wildcats were led by a runner-up individual finish by senior Tyler Jones (16:23) and a fourth place finish by senior Drew Thayer (16:57). Landon McSwain (16th, 17:36), Juan Mendoza (18th, 17:44), and Rowan Lee (28th, 18:20) had the other scoring runs for Woodland.

Cass junior Critton Gearhart was the top individual finisher for the Colonels, placing eighth in 17:27. He was followed by teammates Leonardo Galeana (43rd, 18:41), Jake Wright (45th, 18:49), Adam Pierce (58th, 19:01), and Adam Brush (67th, 19:10).

The next race for Woodland and Cass will be the Region 7-5A Championships hosted by Woodland Tuesday, October 25.