2019 DCSD County Cross Country Champions – Clarkston Angoras
A five-point victory over Druid Hills gave the Clarkston Angoras their fourth DeKalb County Cross Country Championship in the past seven years while ending Lakeside’s two-year run in the 58th annual DCSD Cross Country Championships on Tuesday at the Druid Hills Middle School course.
The Angoras 57-62 win over the Druid Hills Red Devils gave Clarkston their first title since the 2016 season to go with titles in 2014 and 2015 during their three-year run as the Class 5A state champions.
Tucker (92) would come in third followed by Lakeside (96), Chamblee (127), Dunwoody (148), Martin Luther King Jr. (159), Southwest DeKalb (210), Towers (219), Stone Mountain (270) and Cedar Grove (346).
Senior Mikias Mekonen (17:03.90) cruised to a 17.7 second victory to give Lakeside a sweep of the top individual spots on the day. He would be the lone Lakeside runner in the Top 10 and it marked the first time since 2013 that the Vikings had less than two in the Top 10. It was Mekonen’s second consecutive individual title in the annual meet.
The Top 10 finishers on the day represented seven different schools which was the most in one race in records dating back to 2003. The most schools represented in the prior 17 years was six (5 times, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2012).
Clarkston’s run to the top was led by junior Thaddee Barge (17:21.6) second place finish and junior Firomsa Ibrahim’s (18:05.60) seventh place time.
Tucker’s third place total was keyed by freshman Zinabu Marcos (17:23.50) who came in third and senior Yesahk Ergano (17:50.90) in fifth.
Two Top 10 finishes spurred Druid Hills to its second place finish in the team standings as seniors Mike Rosenbluth (17:31.70) and Siddhartha Narker (17:55.90) finished in fourth and sixth, respectively.
Lakeside’s Mikias Mekonen defended his 2018 DCSD County Cross Country title. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Chamblee had a runner in the Top 10 for the second consecutive season as junior Diego DeAlba (18:21.20) cruised across the finish line in eighth.
Southwest DeKalb senior Jalen Bristol (18:21.90) gave the Panthers a Top 10 finisher for the first time since 2013 as he took ninth overall on his birthday. Towers freshman Emmanuel Clement (18:27.00) gave the Titans their only Top 10 finisher over the past 17 county meets as he garnered a 10th place medal.
Clarkston had two freshmen and a junior finish in the next 10 to propel the Angoras to the top spot in the team standings. Freshman Ilyas Abdi Nur (18:41.50) was 13th while junior Innocent Mfitumkiza (18:53.80) was 17th and freshman Dejene Abatie (18:54.00) was 18th.
Druid Hills sophomore Sage Walker (18:42.60) was 14th and junior Emmanuel Greene (18:45.40) was 15th to close the gap on Clarkston.
Tucker sophomores Abedelemeji Kerebo (18:52.20) and Yordanos Ephram (18:57.60) were 16th to aid the Tigers in their third place finish as a team.
Other Top 20 finishers include Lakeside junior Mason Mihalis (18:30.30) in 11th, Dunwoody sophomore Ethan Archibald (18:30.20) in 12th and Martin Luther King Jr. senior Darian Wragg (18:56.80) in 19th.
See link below for full results: