Photo: Southside’s Evan Christopher (left) and Tanner Griggs display the team’s third-place trophy following the Yellow Jacket Invitational 5K on Aug. 31 in Oxford. (Submitted photo)
The Southside girls and boys cross country teams placed first and third, respectively, at the Yellow Jacket Invitational 5K on Saturday, Aug. 31 in Oxford.
In the girls’ run of 160 participants, Southside’s Marlee Tucker posted a second-place time of 22:00.66. Glencoe’s Sarah Ponder finished fourth with a time of 22:15.53, followed by Ashville’s Allie Cone in fifth place at 22:27.52.
Also finishing in the top for the Lady Panthers were Payton Ridley in seventh place at 22:51.36, Taylor Dortch in ninth place at 23:25.63 and Lydia Kay in 10th place at 23:25.83. Lucy Valentine helped Southside’s cause with a 13th place time of 23:46.40.
The Lady Panthers’ final tally of 26 points was 85 points better than runner-up Douglas.
Evan Christopher finished first in the boys race of 225 competitors with a time of 16:20.70, 48 seconds faster than runner-up Brayden Chandler of Springville. Tanner Griggs came in third for Southside with a time of 17:15.73. Dakota Ensminger of Glencoe finished 19th with a time of 18:34.60.