Alexis Mayfield and Hudson Champion nab wins at the South Georgia Invitational

Rain fell on Thomasville, Georgia on Tuesday afternoon, 26 September 2023, making for a wet day at the races for Thomas County Middle School's fifth South Georgia Invitational Middle School Cross-Country Meet. The Deerfield-Windsor boys and the Lowndes girls each took a team title, with Deerfield-Windsor putting up 33 points and Lowndes scoring a mathematically unbeatable 26. Swfit Creek eighth-grader Alexis Mayfield won the girls' race in 13:15, while Colquitt County seventh-grader Hudson Champion took first in the boys' race with an 11:42.

Alexis Mayfield

The girls raced first that afternoon. That event developed into a duel between two eighth-grader, with Alexis Mayfield of Swift Creek and Deerfield-Windsor's Sophie Logan well out ahead of the rest of the field. Mayfield had the advantage at the finish line, beating Logan home 13:15 to 13:19. Deerfield-Windsor eighth-graders took the next two places; Kaylee Hatcher was third in 14:19 and Sydney Daniel was fourth in 14:39.


Eighth-graders Ann Margaret Barrow and Abigail Lane finished the scoring for the Deerfield-Windsor Knights, with Barrow fourteenth in 16:02 and Lane fifteenth in 16:02. The Knights had tallied 33 points, good enough for first in the seven-team field.


Berrien County, led by eighth-grader Autumn Pearson (6th, 15:18), took second with 56 points. Hosts Thomas County was third, logging 78 points behind their top runner, seventh-grader Emma Thompson (11th, 15:59).


Girls' Team Scores, 2023 South Georgia Invitational Middle School Cross-Country Meet

1. Deerfield-Windsor, 33
2. Berrien County, 56
3. Thomas County, 78
4. Colquitt County, 114
5. Lowndes, 127
6. MacIntyre Park, 128
7. Whigham, 185
8. Swift Creek, NTS

Top Ten Girls, 2023 South Georgia Invitational Middle School Cross-Country Meet

1. 13:14.70, Alexis Mayfield (Swift Creek) 8
2. 13:18.70, Sophie Logan (Deerfield-Windsor) 8
3. 14:18.80, Kaylee Hatcher (Deerfield-Windsor) 8
4. 14:38.80, Sydney Daniel (Deerfield-Windsor) 8
5. 14:59.70, Lydia Chambers (Lowndes) 7
6. 15:17.60, Autumn Pearson (Berrien County) 8
7. 15:18.80, Peyton Vowell (Berrien County) 7
8. 15:38.90, Rileigh Proctor (Berrien County) 6
9. 15:41.70, Sadie Kate Scarbrough (MacIntyre Park) 8
10. 15:43.40, Pari Patel (Lowndes) 6

After the girls had churned up the muddy spots on the course, it was time for the boys to take their turn. Like the girl' race, it ultimately came down to two athletes--Colquitt County seventh-grader Hudson Champion and Lowndes eighth-grader River Thurston. Champion prevailed in that match, 11:42 to 11:46. Lowndes seventh-grader Andrew Chick took third in 12:01 and Lowndes eighth-grader fourth in 12:08.


Lowndes had one more Viking in the top ten, eighth-grader Masa Hammond, who was tenth in 13:09. Less than two seconds later, Lowndes sixth-grader Dominic Johnson came across the line eleventh in 13:11, all five Viking scorers were home, and the boys of Lowndes had a winning score of 26 points.


Led by eighth-grader Daniel Roland (7th, 12:35), Deerfield-Windsor scored 71 points, placing second among the seven teams in the race. MacIntyre Park was third with 84 points behind the fifteenth-place finish of their top Bulldog, seventh-grader Luke Ridley (13:29).


Miles and Minutes, LLC, of Tallahassee, Florida timed and scored the 2023 South Georgia Invitational Middle School Cross-Country Meet.


Boys' Team Scores, 2023 South Georgia Invitational Middle School Cross-Country Meet

1. Lowndes, 26
2. Deerfield-Windsor, 71
3. MacIntyre Park, 84
4. Colquitt County, 94
5. Thomas County, 103
6. Berrien County, 113
7. Saint John Catholic, NTS
   Whigham, NTS

Top Ten Boys, 2023 South Georgia Invitational Middle School Cross-Country Meet

1. 11:41.70, Hudson Champion (Colquitt County) 7
2. 11:45.30, River Thurston (Lowndes) 8
3. 12:00.70, Andrew Chick (Lowndes) 7
4. 12:07.30, Max Shelly (Lowndes) 8
5. 12:17.60, Holten Dennard (Thomas County) 7
6. 12:20.60, Juan Ledesma-Rodriguez (Saint John Catholic) 7
7. 12:34.10, Daniel Roland (Deerfield-Windsor) 8
8. 12:37.70, Christopher Wallace (Saint John Catholic) 8
9. 13:04.10, Connor Stephens (Thomas County) 8
10. 13:08.90, Masa Hammond (Lowndes) 8

South Georgia Invitational Middle School Cross-Country Meet Winners, 2016 - 2023
Middle School Girls
Date	Team	Athlete
22 October 2016	Pike County, 46	13:46, Allison Drummond (Unattached) 8
21 October 2017	Pike County, 45	15:21, Emma Powell (Unattached) 8
18 October 2019	Thomas County, 38	14:42, Cadence Curnalia (Thomas County) 7
30 September 2021	Tift Area, 50	16:16, Savannah Dodd (Thomas County) 8
26 September 2023	Deerfield-Windsor, 33	13:15, Alexis Mayfield (Swift Creek) 8
Middle School Boys
Date	Team	Athlete
22 October 2016	Valdosta, 40	12:35, Parker Jackson (Valdosta) 7
21 October 2017	Pike County, 39	12:48, Parker Jackson (Valdosta) 8
18 October 2019	Berrien County, 20	13:41, Robert Lindquist (Thomas County) 8
30 September 2021	Tift Area, 56	13:42, Brody Jennings (Thomas County) 7
26 September 2023	Lowndes, 26	11:42, Hudson Champion (Colquitt County) 7
The meet was not held in 2018, 2020, or 2022.

Links

• Complete results, 2023 South Georgia Invitational Middle School Cross-Country Meet
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT5pX2KZCCAoZlb1scIvDwqHt2ng9EqOkFG7t_Hl1bXe2tdN9vsL7P37rhYStzMkZm7nnkgDyU-N1Dn/pubhtml
  
  
• Find upcoming races in Thomasville or other Tallahassee-region towns on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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