Clark, Woods set new course marks at Hall County Championships

GAINESVILLE - North Hall's Nolan Clark and Flowery Branch's Kiara Woods both were looking to make their own mark on the Hall County Cross County Championships Tuesday at Chestatee Middle School.

And neither was disappointed as they both came away with wins in record-setting fashion.

Clark has the most second place finishes in Region 7-AAA cross country meets than anyone over the past four years. But on Tuesday he finally showed that he can win the big meet.

The Trojans senior took a quick lead and then pulled away from Flowery Branch's Daniel Martinez over the final 500 meters to get the win. Clark finished with in a record-setting time of 17:16, besting the old mark of 17:24 set by former teammate Nick Long and Tyler Dunn of Pickens last week.

"It was a goal to win the race and I thought I ran pretty well. I love this course and the key is to get separation from the pack as quick as possible," he said. "I went all out right from the start and then kicked it in on the final 500 meters or so. But I'm more happy with how the team did. We finished second and we're looking forward to the region meet in a couple of weeks."

Class AAA No. 1-ranked Flowery Branch boys came away with the team win with a low of 35 points and won the meet for a second straight year. North Hall was second with 45 points and West Hall third with 78 points. Gainesville was fourth with 101 points.

The Flowery Branch girls had a team-low 24 points and won the team meet behind Woods to give the Falcons a sweep. Chestatee was second with 51 points and North Hall was third with 86 points.

"We feel good about both teams winning," Flowery Branch coach Jimmy Sorrells said. "The girls ran a real strong race. The boys won but I don't think it was our best effort overall. We'll have to run better to win the region."

In the girls race, Woods said her strategy was to stay with the pack early but quickly changed her plans after the first 200 meters.

"(The pack) was a little slower than I had hoped so I just took off at the first hill and fortunately I was able to keep up the pace," Woods said. "I just tried to widen the gap and I was surprised to learn I set a new course record."

Woods finished with a 21:03, which was two seconds better than the old mark also set last week by Sara Turner of Pickens. Kelsey Neukum of Chestatee finished second with a time of 21:38.

In the boys race, Martinez finished in 17:34 while Gainesville's Aurelio Montano posted a time of 17:40 for third. Ty McCormack of North Hall was fourth with 17:49 time and the Falcons' Jeffrey Velez was fifth coming in at 17:59.

In the girls race, following Woods and Neukum, Eileen Devico of Flowery Branch took third with a time of 21:47; West Hall's Liliana Cervantes was fourth with a 22:45 time, and Utami Ketchem of Flowery Branch was fifth at 22:58.