Prep CC: East Coweta, Newnan prepare at ASICS
From STAFF REPORTSsports@newnan.com
East Coweta and Newnan cross-country lineups were easily dwarfed among Saturday’s massive numbers, both among runners and teams, at the annual ASICS Invitational held at McIntosh Reserve.
This weekend, however, it’ll be among more quaint and competitive surroundings at the Coweta Cup Championships at Northgate.
Newnan’s young girls team — with underclassmen among its top seven runners — proved ready to defend last year’s Coweta Cup crown. Led by junior Hannah Hudson (39th, 21:28) and sophomore Elizabeth Westerfield (41st, 21:29), the Lady Cougars placed four runners inside 22 minutes among 200-plus runners in just the 5A-6A event.
The Invitational also included boys and girls Championship and Open divisions while including well over 60 schools.
Also scoring for Newnan’s girls were sophomores Anna Haydon (21:42) and Maya Sherman (21:53) and freshman Gabby Freeman (23:05). Junior Ally Thomas (23:17) and freshman Caroline Thomas (23:50) were both close behind.
East Coweta’s girls placed 20th among 33 teams led by junior Darian Pugh’s time of 21:52. Junior Rebecca Burke added a mark of 22:24 followed by senior Amber Williams (23:10), junior Sydney Bollinger (24:51) and sophomore Anna Weatherly (25:06).
Local boys finishers displayed what could be a heated race for this Saturday’s individual boys crown. Newnan sophomore Matthew Miller continued to prove to be the area’s top contender by leading county finishers at the ASICS meet with a mark fo 17:49 in the 5A-6A event.
Miller was followed by Cougars teammate Matthew Miller in 18:05 and East Coweta senior Austin Freeman (18:11), the defending two-time county champion. Newnan senior Anthony Galvin added a time of 18:29 among the top-four placers from the county.
The Cougars, who finished 22nd overall, also received scoring times from sophomore Mike McMahon (18:47) and junior Ben Ketelsen (19:19), with junior Fredy Osorio (19:29) on their heels.
Freshmen Courtlen Burke and Matthew Shumake paced the Indians scoring with times of 18:59 and 19:00. Senior Josh Bruce (19:37) and freshman Caleb Christopher capped off a 30th place finish among teams.
