Boys Cross Country Finishes First at Carrollton Invitational

CARROLLTON, Ga.- The boys cross country team placed first out of 45 schools at the OrthoWest Invitational in Carrollton, Ga. on Saturday morning.

Anderson Mathias and Everett Griffin finished top-10 in ninth (18:15.22) and tenth place (18:22.36), respectively.

The group recorded 122 points to win the meet with four runners placing in the top-20 including Mathias, Griffin, Josh Graves, and Javi Silva. 

On the girls side, the team placed 15th out of 33 teams and Lindsay Buchanan was the top finisher for the girls with a time of 22:42.74. The top seven finishers were Amber Smith, Kate Dyson, Hannah Sommers, Hannah Hopkins, Hailey Hopkins, and Hayley Redrick. 

"Every single HCA runner who ran down in Carrollton on Saturday ran their hearts out and improved as individuals and as a team," said head coach Mike Taylor. "Cross Country is a lot harder than some people realize and it is really gratifying to see our kids get better due to a lot of hard work. Our varsity boys team truly ran as a team and ran the best race by an HCA cross country team since the boys won state back in 2017."

Up Next: The team travels to the Gwinnett County High School Cross Country Championship next Saturday at Georgia International Horse Park. Start time is set for 8 a.m.