2018 DCSD BOYS CROSS COUNTRY COUNTY CHAMPIONS — Lakeside Vikings
Lakeside put together the first sweep of the DCSD Varsity Boys and Girls Cross Country Championships since the program completed the feat in 2011 in competition at the Druid Hills Middle School course on Tuesday.
The win was the Vikings 32nd overall and their first repeat title performance since 2011 and 2012 as DeKalb held the event for the 55th season.
The Vikings 43-54-68 win was the closest finish since Lakeside nipped Clarkston 32-35 in 2015 to break the Angoras two-year streak (2013-14) in the event.
Junior Mikias Mekonen blistered the trail with a time of 16:35.90 to win the top individual boys’ award by 53.70 seconds. His time was the best since Phillip Burks of Southwest DeKalb clocked a 16:34 in 2005 to capture the title. It was also the fastest time recorded time at the Druid Hills Middle School course this season as well as the fastest in DeKalb County meets this fall.
Lakeside junior Mikias Mekonen (left) pulls away from Druid Hills’ senior Carter Rathur on the way to the country’s fastest time. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Mekonen was joined in the Top 10 by three senior teammates as Daniel Martinez (17:56.40), Oliver Hewett (18:02.00) and William Nelson (18:04.00) finished eighth through 10th, respectively.
Clarkston also put four runners in the Top 10 led by sophomores Piyo Micheale (17:36.20) in third and Thaddee Barge (17:38.20) in fourth. Senior Rukundo Uwimana was fifth in 17:40.80 and sophomore Firomsa Ibrahim (17:44.00) took seventh.
Lakeside’s senior Mark Rotolo (18:16.00) finished 15th to clinch the victory for the Vikings.
Third place Druid Hills was led by senior Carter Rathur (17:29.70) with a silver medal finish. Chamblee senior Bennett Solomon grabbed sixth place in 17:40.80 to round out the Top 10.
It was Lakeside’s Head Coach Rick Barbe’s 11th boys’ title since taking over in 2005 and third in the past four seasons.
2018 DCSD GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY COUNTY CHAMPIONS — Lakeside Lady Vikings
Girls Varsity Race
The girls were running for the 43rd time and the Lady Vikings pulled out a 32-42-47 win over defending champion Dunwoody and Druid Hills in the highly contested race at Druid Hills Middle.
Lakeside senior Emma Hanson (20:32.30) won the girls’ individual gold medal by 14.9 seconds over Dunwoody junior Anna Mothner (20:47.20) as the pair put up the top two fastest girls’ times this season at any of the DeKalb meets.
The Lady Vikings pulled in three more Top 10 finishes led by freshman Abigail McHoul (21:05.90) in fourth, junior Sydney DeWoody (22:07.50) in sixth and junior Sontai-blu Boyd (22:41.10) in eighth. Freshman Kate Van Horn (23:19.80) crossed the finish line in 13th to seal the win for Lakeside.
Lakeside senior Emma Hanson ran the fastest girls’ time in the county this season to win the DCSD Girls County Championship. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Dunwoody freshman Ainsley Jones (22:30.80) was seventh and sophomore Emma Tessler (22:56.70) was tenth.
Druid Hills’ battle for second came up short despite having three runners finish in the Top 10 including freshman Sophie Shephard (21:04.70) in third for the bronze, junior Genevieve Ferrara (22:04.80) in fifth and junior Asena Anderson (22:42.50) in ninth.
The win was Lakeside’s 17th title including two of the last three championships. Coach Rick Barbe picked up his fifth title for the Lady Vikings.
Dunwoody finished as the runner-up for the seventh time to go with its eight championships, including seven of the last 10.
See the full results for the 2018 DCSD County Cross Country Championships at the link below: