Region Champion Annie Bradley to lead HCHS at State Cross Country Meet

(Franklin, GA) — Heard High’s cross country program took a major step forward last week when both the girls and boys teams earned second place finishes at the Region 5-AA finals to qualify for this Saturday’s GSHA State Meet in Carrollton.

Leading the way was Senior Lady Brave runner Annie Bradley who won the girls race to become what is believed to be Heard County’s first female Region Champion.

Bradley’s strong time of 21:59.34 placed her ahead of several Bremen High School runners who claimed second, third, and fourth at the meet held Friday morning at the Heard County Parks and Recreation Department in Franklin.

Region 5-AA Cross Country Champion Annie Bradley

Bradley was shocked and ecstatic to win the meet especially against the strong competition from the Lady Blue Devil runners.

“It feels pretty great to win the region — I’ve been trying to beat Bremen this whole time, so the fact that I finally beat them was pretty cool,” said Bradley after the ace.

“I would not have been able to do it without our awesome coaches, my parents, and this special gift that God gave me.”

Bremen was able to secure both team Region trophies thanks to strong performances by multiple athletes in both races.

The Bremen girls placed six runners in the top 10 while the Bremen boys had seven runners score top 10 times.

Senior Kimberly Loutzenheiser also scored a nice finish for the Lady Braves claiming 9th place with a time of 26:21.53.

Other top 20 finishers for the Lady Braves included junior Beth Moreland (13th), freshman Charley Moncus (14th), and junior Lily Barr (18th).

Leading the way for the Braves was senior Ethan Lawson who brought home fifth place with a time of 19:01.74.

Senior Bailey Scarborough also earned a 10th place finish with a time of 20:02.24.

Other strong finishers for the Braves included freshman Rowdy Epps (11th), sophomore Tyler Brewer (12th), sophomore Caelan Hasty (15th), sophomore Eli Lawson (16th), and junior Andrew King (18th).

The GSHA Class AA Cross Country races will take place this Saturday afternoon at Carrollton High School. The boys race will start at 12:30 PM followed by the girls race at 1:15 PM.