MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County middle schools girls cross country team took first place in the Southwest Georgia Middle School Cross Country Championships held Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Springhill Christmas Tree Farm in Bainbridge.

The middle school boys team was fourth, just a point behind Bainbridge.

The meet was the only medal opportunity for middle school teams, which generally run in varsity meets.

Lindsey Stapleton led the Lady Packers, finishing fourth. Aislin Sheffield was fifth, Briana Hill was seventh, Robin Byington was eighth, Samantha Price was 19th and Rebecca Weeks was 20th.

“Briana’s seventh-place finish was the key for these girls to take first place,” coach Link Whittaker said. “I was very proud of her race.”

Paige Braswell of Bainbridge Middle Schol finished first with a 13:44.

Baconton Community Charter School was second, Bainbridge was third and Tift County was fourth.

Whittaker said all of the girls ran faster times than they did at the previous race in Bainbridge.

He said Stapleton, Sheffield and Byington finished in the top 20 of all the races they entered this season.

Tift County finished first in the girls race.

Von Stripling was the Colquitt County boys top finisher, coming in 11th. Alex Littleton was 15th, Jamal Jones was 18th, Alex Gomez was 22nd, Austin Hunnicutt was 23rd and Cameron Boyd was 27th.

Whittaker called Tift County, which took four of the top five places, “a running machine.”

“Von ran almost two minutes faster than earlier this year, but still had a hard time making up time on that group,” Whittaker said.

“He led our group all season. His hard work was very impressive.”

Baconton was second in boys race.