In a final tune-up before the Region 6-7A championships, both West Forsyth varsity teams produced wins in the championship races of the Pickens and Grinnin' Invitational Friday in Jasper.
Diego Fernandes (15:51.50) topped the podium to lead the Wolverines to victory with 38 points. Runner-up and region rival Milton finished with 67.
On the girls side, West Forsyth placed a handful of runners inside the top 25, and even added a sixth competitor in 30th position. As with the boys, West Forsyth (72 points) wound up ahead of second-place Milton (83).
Outside of Fernandes, three other Wolverines placed top 10. Cole Schmoyer wound up just ahead of Parker Chase, as the duo finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Aidan Portelli came in ninth. Caleb Guinter rounded out West Forsyth's scoring in 17th position.
Lily Flood paced the Wolverines, finishing seventh in the girls race at Roper Park, which will host the region meet Oct. 22. Calli Crawford (10th) and Sophie Kyle (11th) crossed the finish line within 0.56 seconds of each other.
Tess Krogman placed 19th overall, and Katherine Bottoms wound up 25th. Had Milton managed to force a tie, Ryleigh's Nix's 30th-place finish would have tipped the scales in West Forsyth's favor.
Competing in Saturday's varsity races, Forsyth Central produced a third-place showing in the boys event, while the girls came in eighth.
Woodland (Bartow) won both races.
Vishnu Yella led the Bulldogs with a ninth-place finish in the boys competition. Noah Anderson wasn't too far behind, placing 14th.
Weston Woolard wound up 23rd; Aiden O'Sullivan picked up a 29th-place finish; and Blake Pinchok (32nd) edged Malachi Nelson (33rd) for the final scoring spot.
Sarah-Corrine Collins matched Yella by placing ninth to lead the Forsyth Central girls. Cami Malone (38th), Peyton Maddox (52nd), Brooke Sweet (54th) and Genesis Messer (59th) were the other Bulldogs with contributing scores.
Lambert boys edge Westminster
In an extremely strong field, Lambert topped Westminster by four points (145-149) to win the boys championship race of the Coach Wood Invitational Saturday in Carroll County.
The Longhorns didn't flood the top of the leaderboard. In fact, their fifth-leading scorer wound up 60th overall. It still proved to be enough to earn the victory.
Kushan Patel produced a 10th-place finish to pace Lambert. Jackson Hogsed placed 19th. Reid Latimer came in 30th.
Matthew Miller (49th) and Patrick Lawson (60th) also helped the Longhorns triumph.
Denmark finished 17th in the race, while South Forsyth came in 24th out of 30 teams.
Ethan Bridge and Ben Sydell put together strong showings for the Danes, placing 16th and 18th, respectively. They were the only Denmark runners inside the top 100.
Similarly, Ben Winn (59th) and Adam Zorko (61st) crossed almost simultaneously for the War Eagles, who didn't have another runner in the top 165 in the field of 267.
East Forsyth entered two runners in the event, with Alex Arrambide placing third and William Knight finishing 126th.
During the girls championship race, South Forsyth placed eighth, and Lambert wound up 10th.
Carmel Yonas, who would seem to be the favorite to win another Region 6-7A individual title, came in third overall. Isabel Yonas crossed in 20th position. Paige Harden (69th) and Molly Hanlon (87th) also posted strong showings.
Seniors Isabelle Gaharan (14th) and Bella Cammarota (16th) paced the Longhorns. Kenley Adams finished 65th, and Amanda Feeney (98th) snuck into the top 100.
Denmark competed in the girls varsity race, placing 12th out of 27 teams.
Olivia Edge produced a 47th-place finish, and Chloe Kang came in 57th. Katie Wang (75th), Roshni Krishnamurthi (81st) and Chaya Thomas (89th) rounded out the Danes' scorers.