Clarkston sophomore Abenezer Woellore came in 8th overall in the Class 4A State Cross Country Championships. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The Clarkston Angoras returned to the podium with a third-place finish in the Class 4A Boys State Cross Country Championships and Druid Hills Red Devils joined them in the Top 10 in the meets held at Carrollton High School on Saturday (Nov. 5).
Clarkston led by Abenezer Woellore’s eighth place finished (16:57.34) finished with 138 points behind first place Westminster (54) and runner-up Starrs Mill (66). Clarkston had not been on the podium since finishing third in 2017 which followed up three consecutive state titles for the Angoras (2014-2016).
Yoseph Beserat (17:45.19) was 21st and Claude Tusiime (18:04.12) was 27th to aid the Clarkston cause. The Top 10 finish was the eighth overall for the Angoras.
Druid Hills finished in the Top 10 for a fifth consecutive year coming in 10th (302) led by Owen Blount’s 31st place finish in 18:10.16.
In the girls’ Class 4A state competition Southwest DeKalb came in 21st (528) and Druid Hills (537) was 22nd. The top DeKalb finisher was Druid Hills ninth grader Indie Shuler (22:33.72) in 36th.
Dunwoody junior Claire Shelton took the silver medal in the Class 6A Girls’ State Meet. (Photo by Mark Brock)
CLASS 6A GIRLS
The other lone Top 10 finisher besides Clarkston’s Woellore was Dunwoody junior Claire Shelton. Shelton took home the silver medal in the Class 6A girls’ championship after qualifying as an individual from her Region 4-6A meet.
Shelton (19:13.50) took on the crowded field and finished just .62 of a second behind the winner, St. Pius X Hannah Schemmel (19:12.92). The next closest finisher was 18 seconds behind the two top finishers.
CLASS 5A
The Chamblee Lady Bulldogs (284) finished just four points out of the Top 10 in Class 5A won easily by Decatur 29-111 over Midtown.
The Lady Bulldogs were led by sophomore Talley Pendleton (21:25.41) who finished in 17th place in the girls’ race. Martin Luther King (720) finished 25th overall in the team standings.
Chamblee was also the top DeKalb finisher in the boys’ race coming in 16th overall with 412 points. Decatur made it a clean sweep of the 5A titles 93-98 over Clarke Central. Junior Matthew Coates (17:49.64) led the way for Chamblee with his 18th place finish.
Martin Luther King (650) edged out Tucker (653) for 26th in the boys’ standings.
See link below for complete DCSD Cross Country State results: