TIFTON — The Tift County Blue Devils cross country team captured their first Region 1-AAAAA championship since 2001 Thursday at Packer Park in Moultrie.
Coach Patti Barber’s Lady Devils squad also advanced to the state Class AAAAA meet with a third-place finish in the girls meet. The top four teams from the region advance to the state meet, which will be held Nov. 8 in Carrollton.
“I am proud of both of them,” said Barber. “It was really great for the guys to win the title for the first time since 2001, and it was good for the girls to get a chance to go back to the state.”
The Blue Devils had 35 points to win the league crown. Warner Robins was second with 48, Houston County took third with 84 and the host Colquitt County Packers were fourth with 88 points.
Even though only the top five placers earn points, Tift’s seven runners finished in the top 19.
Hunter Honeycutt led the way, as he won the overall title with a time of 16:45.
“We are hoping that Hunter may be able to place in the top 10 at state,” said Barber.
Luke Clark was fifth with a time of 17:38, and Christian Neal was seventh with a time of 18:00. The top six finishers earn medals, so Neal just missed being a region medalist.
Blake Hightower was 10th with a time of 18:08, and Chris Rockwell took 12th with a time of 18:18.
Sam Holbrook was 18th with a time of 18:27, and Zack Dorminey was 19th with a time of 18:27.
Valdosta won the girls title with 38 points. Warner Robins was second with 72, while Tift was third with 76. Colquitt came in fourth with 90 points.
Kelly Murray earned a medal as she was fifth with a time of 21:36. Blakely McClellan was Tift’s second top finisher, as she took 15th overall with a time of 22:50. Other Tift placers were Arieal Stevenson, 17th with a time of 23:03; Alli Gann, 18th with a time of 23:04; and Lawson Barber, 21st with a time of 23:46.
Malavika Rajeev was 25th with a time of 24:00, and Alex Googe took 43rd with a time of 25:54.
Local Sports
Devils win first region title in seven years
- Local Sports
-
-
Former Blue Devil hopes to be picked in MLB draft
In less than two weeks, from June 4-6, Major League Baseball will be holding its 2012 draft, fulfilling the dreams of several athletes who have worked for that moment most of their lives.
-
Mesoraco’s slam sends Reds over Braves 6-3
Rookie catcher Devin Mesoraco capped a series full of homers with his first career grand slam on Thursday night, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
The Reds completed their first four-game sweep of the Braves in Cincinnati since 1980 at Riverfront Stadium. They’ve won six straight, their longest winning streak since August 2010 when they started their push toward the NL Central title. -
Williams’ annual basketball camp coming up
The annual “Bouncing Through the Community with a Vision Fundamental Basketball Clinic" will be held June 23 at at the Tift County High Arena.
-
Barrentine does well on junior rodeo circuit
Brady Barrentine competed this past weekend in the Southern Junior Rodeo Finals in Ocala, Fla. This was his first year competing in the SJRA's rodeo season. He competed all year long in the breakaway roping, tie-down calf roping, team roping, ribbon roping and chute dogging.
- Local athletes compete in Special Olympics Georgia
- Purple Hurricanes wind up spring practice, hold spring game
-
Blazers win NCAA Division II national softball title
The Valdosta State Blazers are the 2012 NCAA Division II Softball National Champions after an impressive 4-1 victory over defending champion UC San Diego. The championship is Valdosta State’s sixth overall championship and first in softball. The win also marks the first softball national championship for the Gulf South Conference.
-
Blazers advance to final day of the season
-
Beachy throws shutout, Braves beat Marlins 7-0
Brandon Beachy threw a five-hit shutout, the first of his career, to improve the major leagues’ lowest ERA and the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 7-0 on Thursday night.
-
Courtney Albritton named All-American
Albritton took VSU and the entire Gulf South Conference by storm in just her freshman season. She was named the GSC's Freshman and Player of the Year while leading the conference in most categories. She is first on the VSU squad in runs scored (68), hits (91), doubles (19), triples (3), home runs (15), RBI (58), slugging percentage (.752) and stolen bases (13-13). - More Local Sports Headlines
-
