Written by Jeremy Stewart, Rome News-Tribune sports writer, published 11/2/07
The cross country teams of
Region 7-AA put forth an effort Thursday afternoon to try to shake things up at their region meet. But the reigning champions stood their ground and did so in convincing fashion.
The Rockmart Yellow Jackets made it three in a row by placing all seven of their runners in the top nine of the boys’ race, led by Kyle Sherfesee’s second individual title. Meanwhile, Darlington’s girls had all five of their scoring runners cross the finish line within the first 11 spots to repeat their 7-AA victory from a year ago. Calhoun’s Sally Peterson was the overall winner. Rockmart’s boys, ranked third in the state in Class AA, won with a miniscule score of 19. They were followed by Calhoun (87), Pepperell (93) and Darlington (94).
The top four teams and top six individuals in each division qualified for the Class AA state championships in Carrollton next Saturday.
“To get to this point finally and be running in the region meet and with this kind of competition, we’re very pleased with the outcome to be what it is,” Rockmart coach Darrell Lee said.
Sherfesee finished in 16:33 and was followed by teammate Ethan Purser, who came in at 16:58. Rockmart took the fourth, fifth and seventh spots with Russ Andrews (17:06), Micah Andrews (17:24) and Cameron Tant (17:30).
It was Sherfesee’s second first place at the region meet after he took last year’s title as a junior. “I’m kind of thrilled that I did it again,” he said. “I put a lot of hard work into doing it but it was really a team effort. It feels good knowing that, in my freshman year, we were just hoping to get close to winning the region and now we’re looking toward trying to win state.”
Calhoun’s J.B. Box took third with a time of 17:05 while Darlington’s Andy Lewis came in sixth at 17:27.
The Lady Tigers won their second region title in a row, posting 31 points and leading by a 70-point margin over Rockmart, which came in second with 101 points. Pepperell was third with 109 points, followed by Calhoun with 133.
“The girls set a goal last spring to be in the top four at state and they knew in order to do that, the region would be a very good stepping stone,” Darlington coach Ken Wempe said. “And they know that there’s that tradition there. These girls have always finished first or second in this region meet and they wanted to go out on top.”
Seniors Lucy Izard and Elizabeth Buice led the way as the two came in second and fifth overall. Izard crossed the finish in 21:00 while Buice finished in 21:50. Margaret Hjort (22:00) and Anna Shea (22:07) were sixth and seventh overall and Breana Gurley was 11th in a time of 22:45.
“We’ve got our sights set for state,” Wempe said. “We know that that’s going to be a big challenge for us but they want it.”
Meanwhile, Peterson capped off her career with the Calhoun Lady Jackets with her first individual region title after coming in at 20:08.
The Calhoun girls have been plagued with injuries this season but still qualified for state. Even Peterson was nursing an injured hamstring. “It’s been rough but I’m really proud of how we did as a team,” Peterson said. “It’s been one of my goals all year. I would have liked a better time but I’m very happy with that, definitely, and looking forward to state.”
Finishing third was LaFayette’s Laura Frances Kelley (21:46) while Pepperell’s Anna Beth Leroy came in fourth in 21:48.
