Starr's Mill opens new home course with a bang

By Caleb Tysor
Starr’s Mill Class of 2015

Starr’s Mill hosted their first ever cross-country meet at Heritage Christian Church on Saturday, September 8. Pastor Doug Fultz opened the course by welcoming the 30 teams and 1,100 runners that competed in the first Panther Invitational.

According to Don Livingston, president of the Starr’s Mill Finish Line Booster Club, in an interview, the idea for the course first came up last October. Brett Pavel, the parent of a Starr’s Mill runner, Doug Fultz, a pastor at Heritage Christian Church, Diane Ruane, the head coach of Starr’s Mill’s cross-country team and Don Livingston, came up with the notion. At first it seemed liked a wild idea, as there were over 100 trees at the starting line alone, but last January as the trees were cleared and graders flattened the ground, the course started to take shape. Several hundred volunteers from the Peachtree City Flash, Heritage, and the Starr’s Mill and Landmark cross-country teams showed up to add straw and seed fertilizer as well as lay sod.

The Peachtree City Flash and the Peachtree City Running Club also donated money to help with the course.

The races all started quickly as the giant hordes sped through the flat and downhill start. The mobs quickly dispersed, however, as some athletes struggled and some charged through the rolling hills featured in the rest of the course. In the end, Starr’s Mill ended up performing great all-around placing fourth in freshman boys, with Starr’s Mill’s Philip Snitzer winning the race, second in varsity boys, varsity girls, JV girls, and freshman girls, and first in JV boys.

Top Five Varsity Times- Boys: Josh Warren, 16:43, Daniel Sims 16:56, James Adams, 17:33, Alex Casado, 17:48, Ben Casado, 18:08.

Sandy Creek’s boys took 13th, followed by Landmark Christian in 15th and Our Lady of Mercy in 16th.

Top five for Starr’s Mill girls: Nicole Chrzanowski, 20:50, Emily Sims, 21:10, Jazmin Zambrana, 21:48, Katie McLaughlan, 21:56, Sophie Handel, 21:56.

The Lady Panthers were followed by Landmark in seventh (Kathryn Foreman placed first overall), McIntosh in 10th and Our Lady of Mercy in 11th.

McIntosh’s boys ran in the Berry College Clara Bowl Invitational and placed 14th in the 5A, 6A division. Their top five were: 3 , Brad Hort, 16:06, 42 ,Taylor Huntley, 17:39, 110 Akoosa Erinne, 18:40, 111 Dimitris Yokaris, 18:40, 126 Chris Dognazzi, 18:50

Whitewater’s boys were 36th.Their top five were: 213 Andrew Helvig, 20:28, 220 Andrew Aycock, 20:41, 222 Kyle Coleman, 20:55, 226 Seamus Murrock, 21:01, 228 Matthew Morrisey, 21:05

On the girls side, McIntosh took 9th. Their top five were: 8 Melanie Hamilt,19:54, 21 Alyssa Leclaire, 20:50, 57 Cassidy Williams, 21:54, 110 Meghan Plunkett, 22:48, 117 Gabrielle Seiler, 22:57

Whitewater’s girls finished 13th. Their top five were: 6 Mackenzie Nail, 19:36, 66 Alana Hood, 22:08, 86 Emma Brodzik, 22:28, 90 Kyah Eglitis, 22:31, 101 Channing Thomas 22:36

The Carrollton Invitational is this Saturday.

(Clara Bowl results are from gatfxc.com)