Chamblee’s Leanna Maender ran to the individual title of the 2023 JV Girls Cross Country County Championship as the Lady Bulldogs became back-to-back title winners. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The Chamblee junior varsity cross country teams made it a sweep at the 2023 DeKalb County Cross Country JV Championships at Druid Hills Middle School this past Thursday (Sept. 28).
Chamblee’s girls team opened the meet by winning for the second consecutive season by knocking off Lakeside 30-56. Dunwoody (65) was third followed by Stephenson (75) and Tucker (134). It was also the second consecutive season for the Top 3 team finishes.
Sophomore Leanna Maender ran the 22nd best time in the Junior Varsity Championships history with a time of 14:15.60 to win individual honors on the day. Freshman teammate Autumn Bouldin (14:29.40) made it a 1-2 Chamblee finish as she crossed the line in second.
The Lady Bulldogs had two more in the first 10 to cross the finish line in freshman Alex Gilboa (15:23.00) in fifth and sophomore Ashley Nelson (15:49.90) crossing in tenth. Sophomore Kathleen Mattison (16:09.40) clinched the championship title finishing 12th overall on the day.
Lakeside’s second place finish was fueled by a pair of Top 10 finishers led by eighth grader Megan Wright (15:37.80) in seventh and sophomore Ariana Hutchins (15:46.40) in ninth.
Dunwoody put two runners in the Top 10 on the way to its second consecutive third place finish as sophomore Bobbi Allen (14:43.20) was third and freshman Hailey Cook (15:35.80) finished sixth.
Two Stephenson Lady Jags captured Top 10 spots to lead their team to a fourth-place finish. Sophomore Tatyanna Baptiste (15:20.90) was fourth and freshman Natasha Wedderburn (15:43.80) came in eight overall.
Chamblee’s Ryan Shimabukuro ran to the individual title of the 2023 JV Girls Cross Country County Championship as the Bulldogs won their second ever JV championship. (Photo by Mark Brock)
BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP
The Chamblee Bulldogs made it a clean sweep for the program winning both the boys’ team and individual titles on the way to a 33-55 win over Clarkston.
Dunwoody (75) was third in the team standings followed in order by Lakeside (95), Redan (148), Martin Luther King Jr. (172), Towers (175) and Druid Hills (176).
Sophomore Ryan Shimabukuro ran to the boys’ individual title in a time of 11:52.50 which is good for 12th all-time in the Junior Varsity Championships.
Chamblee had three more in the Top 10 including freshman Jackson Lonsdorf (12:14.00) in sixth followed in order by sophomores Mason Harter (12:14.50) in seventh and Patrick Shaw (12:15.00) in eighth. Freshmen Declan Chen (12:19.90) and Ian Matthews (12:30.80) were 11th and 12th, respectively, to seal the title for the Bulldogs.
Clarkston had three of the first five to cross the finish line to sew up second place led by sophomore Caleb Koerber (11:54.40) who claimed the individual silver medal. Sophomores Israel Imag (12:05.40) and Shafi Manzi (12:13.50) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Dunwoody rounded out the Top 10 finishers as sophomore Ben Snead (12:15.60) finished ninth and freshman Jared Katz (12:17.20) was tenth to aid the third-place finish by the Wildcats.
Towers sophomore Innocent Bembetem claimed the bronze medal with hist time of 12:03.90.
See links below for full results and JV Championships history: