Newton Citizen

The Patriots, who are ranked No. 4 in Class AAAA, ran away from the field, placing four runners in the top six overall in the 2-mile event. Heritage finished with 33 points to easily defeat Warner Robins in second place with 66.

Jake Hudson paced the Patriots with a second-place finish in 10 minutes, 58 seconds. Brandon Harrison was eight seconds behind in third place.

Darius Calhoun took fifth in 11:16 and Aaron Worthy was sixth in 11:20. Andrew Connors completed the Heritage top five in 17th at 12:00.

In the girls race, the Lady Patriots chalked up a second-place finish with 62 points, just three behind Warner Robins.

Simone Worthy had the top time for the Heritage girls in sixth place at 14:16. Sarah Hayward finished 11th in 14:41 and Lena Killingsworth was 12th in 14:41.

At the Rock Ranch Invitational in Yatesville, the Eastside boys and girls squads collected top-10 finishes.

In the boys race, Eastside placed fifth with 183 points.

Sam Johnson had the best finish for the Eagles, placing eighth overall with a time of 17:58.02. Ace Cook was next in 15th at 18:19.23.

The Salem boys placed 20th in the 22-team field, as Logan Gunzenhauser produced the Seminoles' top effort with a time of 20:01.35 in 52nd.

The Eastside girls finished seventh in the 15-team field with a team score of 191. Allie Haynie posted the Lady Eagles' top finish in 32nd (24:32.62) followed by Amber Decker in 34th (24:36.52) and Melissa Bender in 36th (24:40.44).

The Salem girls were 12th with 328 points. Leading the way for the Lady Seminoles was Shannon Christian in 45th (25:29.97).

At the Berry High School Invitational in Rome, the Alcovy boys finished 55th in the boys varsity AAAA/AAAAA race on the Berry College campus. Joshua Holcombe had the Tigers' top time of 19:49 (267th place).

The Lady Tigers placed 48th overall in the girls varsity AAAA/AAAAA division. Tatlin Gammon was their top finisher in 25:24 (267th place).

Jeff Gillespie can be reached at jeff.gillespie@rockdalecitizen.com.