Vidalia Shines at the GHSA State Meet
Courtesy of VHS
The Vidalia High School Indians headed to Carrollton High School over the weekend to compete in the GHSA State Cross Country Championship. The boys team rallied for a 5th place finish and the girls placed 9th.
Girls
For the girls, Judith Hussey continues to lead the pack as the top finisher and the Team Captain. With her best time on this course, Judith etched her name on the Vidalia record board as the 5th fastest female in history at the State Meet with a time of 21:56 finishing 15th place individually. Emilynn Campbell, Cannon Sharpton, Dayanna Onate, Giselle Garcia, Stella Siegmund and Sadie Siegmund completed this mighty team of new, young runners. These girls had a lot to overcome from the beginning of the season. VHS only had 3 athletes that had running experience, but with excellent leadership from Judith, they continued to work hard and develop into remarkable runners.
Boys
The boys had a standout performance from Captain Cash Driggers, who placed 7th with a time of 17:33 placing his name in the 3rd spot on the Vidalia record board. Cash is the first male runner to make the podium at State in 6 years. Cash set the bar high for himself and his team and put the work behind it to make it come to fruition. Wyatt Vassey was not too far behind Driggers and finished with an 18th place finish as a freshman. Vassey also made the all time record board. Greg Taylor, Simon Collins, Marvin Onate, Brennon Hammock and Kartel Lane rounded out the team for an amazing hard fought 5th place finish.
While this is not what they were hoping for, these young men started off the season ranked outside the top 10 in the state with only 2 athletes with high school cross country experience including 3 freshmen.
Coach Mandy Godbee said, “If we could just zoom out and look at how far they have come, it has been an epic season. This is a testament to the leadership from our team captains Cash Driggers and Simon Collins. They had very high expectations and an intense work ethic to back it up. At the end of the season, I am proud of both teams and honored to have been a part of this journey along with Coach Gray Meredith and his expertise.”
Judith Hussey came in 15th at the State Meet.Photo by VHS
