Dalton CC in 4A state meet

Dalton High’s boys cross country team stuck together during Saturday’s Region 7-4A championship meet in Powder Springs — all the way to a first-place finish that secured its return to the state meet.

The Catamounts edged Allatoona by one point for the region title in the 15-team field on Saturday, while the Lady Catamounts finished third in their meet and will also run next Saturday in the Class 4A state meet in Carrollton.

Dalton’s boys finished seventh in the region a year ago, but stayed close to each other during Saturday’s 5-kilometer race at Taylor Farms and kept up a rigorous pace, Dalton coach Karen Galyon said.

“(Chris Pineda) went out really fast and was way up at the front,” she said. “I think that set the pace for everybody. To have five guys finish (with times of less than 18 minutes) was great for us. That’s what clinched the win, because they weren’t spread out, and to have the times so consistent really helped a lot.”

Murray County’s Josh Stanley, who finished fifth in the boys race, was the only other area runner to qualify for state. The top four teams and top six individuals in each region qualify for state.

Murray County’s boys were eighth with 188 points, while the Lady Indians were seventh with 227 points. Northwest Whitfield’s boys and the Lady Bruins both finished in sixth place with 184 and 186 points, respectively.

Dalton’s girls were led by two top-three individual finishes. Carina Nieto, a junior, was second with a time of 20 minutes, 12 seconds, while Bekah Houston, a freshman, was third at 20:24. The Lady Cats also picked up points from Paxton Plunkett (14th, 21:19), Meral Henton (18th, 21:48) and Katarina Yi (32nd, 22:40), while Reagan Fromm (23:04) and Jillian Lidderdale (24:04) also competed.

Nieto led for about the first 2 1/2 miles, Galyon said, before being overtaken.

The Lady Cats finished with 67 points behind Woodland-Bartow (57), which was led by the girls individual champion, and Allatoona (62). Hillgrove was fourth with 114 points.

“To stay that close to the girl from Woodland was very good for Carina,” Galyon said. “That’s her best time of the year. I think her previous best time was 20:30. And then Bekah was right behind her, so we were real excited about that.”

All of Dalton’s boys finished in the top 30 and with times of less than 19 minutes. Andrew Bruner (8th, 17:29), Chris Pineda (12th, 17:42), Jonathan Hernandez (14th, 17:44), Preston Pound (15th, 17:47) and Fernando Morales (19th, 17:58) scored for the Cats, while Grant Snyder (20th, 18:00) and Daniel Beltran (27th, 18:11) also competed.

Pound’s finish was key in the one-point victory.

“He came up and edged out another runner,” Galyon said. “That made all the difference in the world there.”

Stanley, last year’s Daily Citizen All-Area Runner of the Year, was able to qualify for state despite not running in a meet in the last two weeks. Though his 17:15 on Saturday couldn’t compare to last year’s 16:19 at the region meet, Murray County coach Sam Young was more than impressed with his effort.

“He had the determination in his eyes before the race,” Young said. “He pulled the team aside and talked to them and stepped up the way I’ve wanted him to all year. I think, as a senior, he didn’t want his career to end. He wanted to take it in to next week and he did that.”

Stanley was followed by Chris Thompson (37th, 18:25), Ryan Osborne (42nd, 18:37), Luis Cruz (50th, 18:52) and Storm Evans (54th, 18:59).

The Lady Indians were led by Melissa Ortiz (ninth, 20:55), Krista Wells (35th, 22:54), Kelly Newport (55th, 23:39), Tember Marchant (53rd, 24:26) and Nayeli Jacobo (65th, 24:31).

The Bruins were led by Jordan Jones (26th, 18:09), Jordan Smith (29th, 18:12), Brody Cook (39th, 18:27), Parker Cook (41st, 18:30) and Nathan Ward (49th, 18:52). The Lady Bruins were led by Shelby Wilson (22nd, 22:03), Natalie Williams (29th, 22:33), Maggie Kalafut (39th, 23:02), Shelly Hendricks (45th, 23:11) and Kayla Griffin (51st, 23:23).

Though Northwest failed to qualify any runners for state, coach Tom Sell said there were plenty of positives.

“Of our 10 top scoring runners, six were freshman, one was a sophomore, two were juniors and just one was a senior,” Sell said. “So I’m returning nine of my 10 point-getters. The top four girls are freshmen. I’m disappointed we didn’t qualify anyone, but we’re so unbelievably young. The future is bright.”

Galyon is optimistic her teams can improve even more next week.

“I think we have that capability,” she said.

MS swimming

• Dalton Middle School swept its season-opening dual meet against Holy Innocents Episcopal School of Sandy Spring, with the boys winning 95-84 and the girls winning 105-74.

The Lady Cougars picked up individual victories from Romina Mendoza (200 freestyle, 2 minutes, 29.66 seconds; 100 freestyle, 1:07.86), Nineve Arriola (500 freestyle, 6:32.60; 50 backstroke, :33.51), Allison Pourquoi (50 butterfly, :32.33) and Jenna Maddox (1-meter diving, 68.5 points).

They also scored relay wins in the 200 medley as Arriola, Emilie Smith, Aisha Sams and Pourquoi finished in 2:24.85 and the 200 freestyle as Arriola, Mendoza, Madison Miller and Pourquoi finished in 2:00.58.

The Cougars were led by individual wins from Alan Trejo (200 freestyle, 2:21.67), Ethan Young (50 butterfly, :28.06; 50 backstroke, 29.88), Tanner Storey (100 freestyle, 1:04.30), Luis Rosales (500 freestyle, 6:57.29) and Garrison Mulkey (1-meter diving, 63 points).

They picked up a win in the 200 freestyle relay as Trejo, Taylor Mathis, Storey and Young finished in 1:53.63.

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