A few scenes headed to the finish line on Tuesday at Arabia Mountain. (Photos by Mark Brock)
Stone Mountain’s Layla Smiley and Tucker’s Yordanos Ephram won the girls’ and boys’ races, respectively, on Tuesday while setting the best times run at the Arabia Mountain course this season.
Smiley (23:33.16) bested Southwest DeKalb’s Janiya McCoy (25;03.42 for the girls’ medalist honors and as both topped McCoy’s previous best at Arabia Mountain of 27:59.86 back on September 2.
Martin Luther King Jr. won the girls’ team title on the day by placing five runners in the Top 10 to for a low score of 23. Clarkston slid into second with 59 ahead of Southwest DeKalb in third with 64.
King’s Morgan Hughes (25:38.58) was third and followed right behind crossing the finish by teammates Dymond Thompson (26:05.68) and Demetria Lind (26:44.71) for three Top 5 finishes. Jaida Thomas (29:41.60) was eighth and Aniah Lake (30:45.48) was 10th overall.
Clarkston put a pair of runners in the Top 10 led by sixth place finisher Benedith Halukoma (27:48.94) and Rachel Tuyambaze (30:23.72) in ninth.
Redan’s Ceony Jones finished seventh in 29:09.88 to round out the Top 10.
Ephram ran a time of 18:12.54 breaking his previous best of 18;27.74 set two weeks ago at Arabia to win the boys’ title on Tuesday. Tucker teammate Abedelemejid Kerebo finished second in 19:28.84 as the Tigers finished second with 41 points to Clarkston’s 30.
Martin Luther King Jr. was third in the team standings with 84 points followed by Lithonia 125, Stephenson 140 and Towers 152.
Clarkston had six Angoras cross in the Top 10 finishers led by Jackson Mupenzi (19:34.56) in fourth and Abdel Mahamat (19:57.49) in fifth. Three teammates followed in sixth through eight including in order Mengesha Alebachew (19:49.95), Moses Buraruhanya (20:18.80) and Henok Gugssa (20:19.58). Weston Uwumuremyi (21:06.29) crossed in 10th for Clarkston.
Towers’ Emmanuel Clement (19:34.36) grabbed third place and Tucker’s Jeremiah Alibey finished ninth overall in 21:06.12 to round out the Top 10.
The junior varsity takes center stage on Thursday at the Druid Hills Middle School course as the 2021 JV County Championships take place. The girls’ race is set for 5:15 pm followed by the boys at 5:45. The junior varsity race is two miles (2 laps of the course). Cost of admission is $5 via GoFan.co.
The DeKalb County Varsity Cross Country Championships are set for Tuesday, October 5. The 5K race begins with the girls at 5:15 pm followed by the boys at 5:55. Cost of admission is $5 via GoFan.co.
Award ceremonies are set to follow as soon as time permits after the boys’ races at both events.
See link below for complete results for Week 6: