TIFTON, Ga. — Tift County returns to the city of Carrollton this afternoon on the heels of another appearance in the state cross country championships.

The Devils are set to run at 8:45 a.m. Saturday morning against the rest of Class AAAAAAA. Tift advanced to the finals two weeks ago with a second place area finish in Conyers.

“We’re ready,” said head coach Kristin McElroy, whose squad also captured the Region 1 trophy at the area meet.

“I’m confident we’re going to improve,” she said. Tift was 21st as a team at state a year ago. “It’s tough,” McElroy said. “It’s tough every year.”

The 2018 season has been a good one and McElroy said their hard work paid off at the area meet.

There, the runner-up Devils were led by a junior and trio of freshmen.

Emily Golden was first among all competitors with a time of 19:44, beating second place by 41 seconds. Of the freshmen, Ainsley Toews was fourth, Alexis Tucker was eighth and Alexandria Vaughan finished 26th. In addition, Rebekah Larger was 30th, Katie McMillan 32nd and Noelia Sandoval 47th.

“Words don’t describe how everyone ran,” McElroy said.

The Blue Devils barely missed out on another state appearance, finishing seventh at area. The top six teams advance to state.

Results of state will be posted online by the Georgia High School Association (via Perfect Timing Group) almost as quickly as the runners cross the finish line. The GHSA’s website is www.ghsa.net.