On Wednesday, October 26th, the XC Raiders raced their way to securing team spots to the GHSA 6A State Championships. This will be the first time since 2017 that both the girl’s and boy’s teams will be traveling together to Carrollton, GA, to compete in the State Championship!
JV XC Raiders
At the 6A-Region 7 races, the XC Raiders found themselves challenging both the clock and position. The JV Girl’s kicked off the day with Sophomore, Sarah Lopez, leading the way to the finish line with a PR of 21:49 and medaling 7th place. The JV Girl’s were followed by the JV Boy’s race, where Freshman, Myles Michel, led the way and finished with a PR. He was closely followed by teammates, Elliot Cho (Jr., 19:26) and Samuel Dosunmu (Fr., 19:30, PR).
Varsity XC Raiders
The XC Raider Varsity Girl’s faced some adversity during the race, but with it, they stepped up to accomplish their goal they had set out for since May 2022—qualifying for State. Freshman, Amalia Brady, brought the Raider Girl’s pack in first with a PR of 20:54. She was followed by Senior Captain, Kate Zurinskas (21:28, PR), and Juniors, Kathryn Fatzynytz (21:34), Katelyn Rager (21:45), Irene Achanti (22:13) to round out the Raider Girl’s score to place 4th.
The XC Raider Varsity Boy’s also had their eyesight set on qualifying for State and knew it was going to take them racing for what they wanted to make it happen. Senior Captain, Spencer Etheridge (16:47), brought in the Raider Boy’s medaling 8th place. He was followed by Richard Vlady (Jr., 17:40), Jack Brown (Sr., 17:47, PR), Luke Roner (Fr., 17:56), and Ahad Sayani (Fr., 18:22, PR), who rounded the Raider Boy’s score to also place 4th.
Advancing Forward
Saturday, November 5th, the XC Raiders will be revisiting the State course that they raced in mid-September, where they hope to race showing improvement with not only their times, but their strength and execution of racing the challenging two-loop course. Come support the XC Raiders at Carrollton HS this Saturday! 6A boy’s race at 12:30 P.M., and the 6A girl’s race at 1:15 P.M. Tickets can be bought in advance at: https://gofan.co/app/events/724399?schoolId=GHSA
XC Raiders that Raced their Personal Record @ Region
JV Girl’s: Aayla Patel, Ashley Si, Abby Burtman, Anais Gjergji, Isabella Salas, Hitanshi Shah
JV Boy’s: Myles Michel, Samuel Dosunmu, Leonardo Martinez-Iturbe, Benjamin Wimberly, Zachary Johnson, Imran Mohammed, Austin Green, Eric Gou, Sardhak Boddu, Johann Carmona
Varsity Girl’s: Kate Zurinskas
Varsity Boy’s: Jack Brown, Ahad Sayani