The Chamblee Lady Bulldogs took the top three places in the 2024 DeKalb County Junior Varsity Cross Country Championships on the way to a three-peat as champions at the Druid Hills Middle School course.
Chamblee’s Samantha Yarbrough (15:02.40), a sophomore, became the sixth Chamblee girls junior varsity runner to win the individual title since 2005 and the second consecutive as the Bulldogs outscored Lakeside 39-44 for the title. Southwest DeKalb (71) was third followed in order by Dunwoody (81), Tucker (131) and Columbia (170).
Yarbrough led a trio of Bulldogs across the finish at the top of the standings as aophmores Abigail Mueller (15:15.10) and Aubri Stephenson (14:31.30) followed in second and third, respectively. Freshman Madison Shields (17:08.30) was 16th and sophomore Julianne Lee (17:27.90) clinched the team title with a 19th place finish.
Lakeside finished second for a junior varsity record 11th time led by eight grader Ryan Lynch (15:31.80) in fourth and was joined in the Top 10 by teammates eighth grader Vivian Vonwalsung (16:01.90) in eighth and sophomore Ayla Davis (16:03.90) in ninth.
Dunwoody and Southwest DeKalb both had two runners finish in the Top 10 to aid their teams’ causes. Sophomores Amelia Ferreira (15:38.80) and Hailey Cook (15:50.20) led the Wildcats finishing fifth and sixth, respectively, the girls’ competition.
Southwest DeKalb also had a pair of sophomores leading the way in Ziyanna West (15:54.20) in seventh and Sanaa Stanton (16:13.70) in 10th to fuel the Panthers third place finish on the day.
Chamblee has bested Lakeside and Dunwoody, both eight time champions, in the last three meets while Southwest DeKalb had its best finish since a third place in 2013. The Panthers best overall finish was second in 2005. Chamblee’s three meet streak is behind a record six by Dunwoody (2011-2016) and Lakeside’s four (2017-2021, no meet in 2020).
The varsity county championships are set for a 5:30 pm start on Tuesday, October 8 at the Druid Hills Middle School course. Chamblee looks to sweep the girls’ championships for the second consecutive season.
See link below for full results of the JV County Championships: