PREP CROSS COUNTRY: Auburn High wins section; Whitehead wins race

The goal for both Auburn High cross counttry teams going into Thursday’s Class 6A-Section 2 meet at Kiesel Park was to run fast and qualify for state.

Done and done.

Both the boys and girls teams finished first comfortably on their home course, with the boys beating Smiths Station, 22-55, and the girls topping Enterprise, 19-48.

Senior Mark McDonald (second, 16:56) led the boys team, right ahead of teammate and classmate Jason Miller (third, 17:05).

Both finished behind the 6A champion, sophomore Cordaryl Whitehead of Opelika, who ran a 16:48 and qualified for states as an individual.

“Cordaryl ran a very smart race,” Bulldogs assistant coach Ben McIntosh said. “He stayed with the leaders and made his move to win.”

Sophomore Jackson Carter (seventh, 17:46), senior Michael Waldrop (eighth, 17:47) and ZinZan Guinane (10th, 18:10) rounded out the scoring for the Tigers.

Vasha Hunt | Opelika-Auburn News
Runners start off the AHSAA Class 6A-Section 2 girls race at Kiesel Park in Auburn on Thursday afternoon.

Smtihs Station and Northview also qualified for the state meet in Moulton next Saturday, with junior Jesse Crouch (fourth, 17:16) and Matthew Recktor (ninth, 17:48) leading the Panthers.

Opelika senior Noah Bartlett (sixth, 17:38) also qualified for states as an individual.

The Tigers’ girls ran a similar race to the boys, with one runner pacing and a pack mentality behind her.

Sophomore Christine Patterson finished first for Auburn, placing second in the race with a time of 20:02, more than a minute behind Prattville’s Kristin Parry.

Opelika eighth-grader Emma Garner finished third in the race at 20:08, making the Bulldogs three-for-three in qualifying individual runners for state.

“They are running well, and that’s what you want them to do at this point of the season with state coming up,” McIntosh said. “We’re very thrilled about that.”

Auburn’s other four scorers finished in a clump within 13 seconds of each other: senior Haley Davies (fifth, 20:44), sophomore Amanda Patterson (sixth, 20:52), freshman Frances Beasley (seventh, 20:53) and senior Courtney Ruggles (eighth, 20:57).

Smiths Station’s girls also qualified for state, finishing third in the race with junior Renee Usher (ninth, 21:10) leading the pack.

Dadeville’s Jerime Beck qualified as an individual in the 3A race, finishing 10th with a time of 18:36.

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Staff writer Tim Cottrell contributed to this report.