TIFTON — Tiftarea had three runners place in the top-10, helping the Panthers with the GISA Class AA state cross country title Saturday in Macon.
The championship closed a great day for Tiftarea, as the JV girls placed fourth, the varsity girls were third and the JV boys finished as the state runner-up in Class AA.
Will Howell, who was coach Jon Koran’s top runner this season, turned in a time of 18:13 — which was good enough for second place in Class AA. Medford McDonald also had a sub-18 minute run, placing sixth with a time of 18:57.
“I knew I had two proven runners in Medford and Will,” Koran said. “The rest of my guys were an unknown talent. But they stepped up all season long.”
Logan Moore placed ninth with a time of 19:25 and Matt Myers was 14th with a 20:09. Justin Vickers also earned points for the Panthers, with a 15th place finish. Vickers crossed the finish line with a time of 20:19.
Brian Jordan and Luke Myers also competed for Tiftarea.
“We had a strong team all the way down our roster. These guys showed a great attitude all season long,” said Koran.
Eighth-grader Neeli Fortson led the third place Lady Panthers with a time of 22:05. Fortson placed third in the individual event.
Others runners that competed were Sam Koran, Shelley Anderson, Neysa Hobbs, Elizabeth Holland, Maggie McNease and Anna Smith.
Bree Harper led the JV Lady Panthers with a ninth place finish. Harper finished in a time of 10:56. Dorian Garvey, Katherine McGarr, Ali Rippy, Jill Johnston and Rainee Baker also competed for Tiftarea.
The JV Panthers second place finish was due to strong runs by Cam Baker, Luke Dean and Sam Tucker.
Baker finished fifth with a 9:54, Dean was eighth with a 10:10 and Tucker ran a 10:26 — which was good enough for a 10th place finish.
Other JV Panthers running were Rob Flick, Levi Moore, Connor Kozmo, Zach Willis and Greer Howard.
This was the second state championship for Koran. He led the Tiftarea girls to a state championship in 2003 in Class AA.
Koran also has three state-runner up finishes in his coaching career.
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