By Chris Siers ~ sports@t-g.com
CHAPEL HILL — On a day loaded with runners from across the mid-state, Henry Horton State Park hosted the Region 4A-AA and Region 6A-AA cross country meets last week.
After the dust had settled, several Marshall County runners punched their ticket to the upcoming state meet, which will be held on Friday.
In the Region 6A-AA meet, the Marshall County Tigers punched their ticket to the Class A-AA state meet with a third-place team finish.
The Tigers were led by Krew Capps, who placed third individually in 17:57.
Ayden Cook wasn’t far behind, finishing in 19:13, good enough for 12th place overall.
McKinley Allen turned in a 20:00 final time, while Alex Patino finished three minutes back at 23:06.
Terrance Bishop finished a spot behind Patino in 52nd, crossing in 23:21.
Will Beasley and Cayden Flickinger were the final two Tigers to cross the finish line, in 63rd and 69th place.
Fairview won the meet with a near-perfect 26 points.
Creek Wood’s Jackson Martin ran away with the individual victory in 15:54, a full 1:32 ahead of second-place finisher, Matthew Andrea.
Also in the Region 6A-AA meet was Cornersville, who didn’t record a team score due to the school fielding just four runners.
Even with just the four runners, the Bulldogs were still well-represented in the region meet.
Carter Neat was the top Cornersville runner to cross the finish line. He finished 25th in 20:10.
Caleb White finished five spots behind in 21:06. Sam Polk turned in a 24:58, while Austin Huff finished in 28:58.
After Marshall County and Cornersville competed in the Region 6A-AA meet, which was held in the morning, the Forrest Rockets competed in the region 4-AA meet, which was held in the afternoon on the grounds of Henry Horton.
Forrest turned in a final score of 355 and was led by Deason Jones, who finished 35th in 20:00.
Braden Vanderploeg was 74th overall and finished in 22:20. Bryant Ellis finished 85th overall in 22:59, while Keaton Gillette and Stephen Wilson finished back-to-back in 23:45 and 24:34.
Central Magnet ran away with the team victory, placing 1st-4th overall.
Blake Younger won the race in 16:19.
With the third-place finish, the Tigers will advance to the Class A-AA, which will be held on Friday at Sanders Ferry Park.
The Class A-AA state race will be held at 2:10 p.m. on Friday.
Marshall Co. (108)
3. Krew Capps 17:57
12. Ayden Cook 19:13
22. McKinley Allen 20:00
51. Alex Patino 23:06
52. Terrance Bishop 23:21
63. Will Beasley 24:42
69. Cayden Flickinger 25:51
Forrest (355)
36. Deason Jones 20:00
74. Braden Vanderploeg 22:20
85. Bryant Ellis 22:59
98. Keaton Gillette 23:45
99. Stephen Wilson 24:34
103. Zach Schnapp 25:51
Cornersville (NS)
25. Carter Neat 20:10
30. Caleb White 21:06
64. Sam Polk 24:58
74. Austin Huff 28:58
