CARROLLTON -- The Long County Blue Tide cross country team traveled to Carrollton take part in the AAA state championship meet on Saturday, Nov 4. The two teams continued to show improvement as both teams placed inside the top 20.

The boys, coming off their second straight team region championship, finished 16th overall out of 30 teams. Region 3-AAA individual champion Shawn Young ran the best time for the boys as he finished 42nd overall with a time of 18:23.

Two other runners finished in the top 100 as senior Trent Rutherford finished in 62nd with a time of 18:57 while Trevor Kuchar finished in 67th with a time of 19:04.

The girls, who finished second at the region meet, finished 14th out of 26 teams. They were led by Macey Higgason, who was second in the girls’ individual region meet.

Higgason was one of four girls to finish inside the top 100 as she finished 25th overall with a time of 22:04. Kaley Hunter followed her up with a 77th place finish with a time of 25:02, Abigail Nadeau was 94th with a time of 25:53, and Kayleigh Whitesell was 99th with a time of 26:12.

Oconee County, with four runners in the top 10, won the boys title and Wesleyan, which placed four runners in the top 10, took the girls crown.

With just two seniors in the boys top seven runners and no seniors in the top seven for the girls, the Tide cross country team is expected to compete for a region and state championship in 2024.