Lady Wildcats No. 1
The Richmond Hill High School girls’ cross country team finished first at the XC Kickoff Classic on Saturday at Daffin Park in Savannah.
The Lady Wildcats were led by senior Amanda Elliott, the defending Region 3-AAAAA champ. Elliott won the meet by finishing the 3.2 mile course in 20 minutes, 37 seconds. Rachel Hammesfahr took third with a 22:34. Emily Hollowell ran a 22:58 to finish 12th. Chloe Giorgianni was 30th and Alexis Arai was 40th to round out the top five for the Lady Wildcats.
"Yes, it was a good start of the season for us. Amanda placed first and looked very strong for the start of her year. It was very apparent that we had a handful of runners who really put an extra amount of work in this summer to prepare themselves for this season," coach Levi Sybert said. "Their reward is RHHS' best showing ever at this large Invitational. We have some gap issues to address after both boys and girls top three runners, but that is something that we look forward to addressing and celebrating as the season unfolds."
Jackie Buelow an Rachel Shepherd were 43rd and 44th for RHHS in the girls’ meet.
On the boys’ side, Corey Jones and Tanner Hicks placed seventh and eighth, respectively, to pace the Wildcats to a fifth-place finish. Jones ran the course in 17:51 while Hicks was 17:55. Also placing in the top five for the Wildcats were Zack Jones (17th), Joe Bardsley (59th) and Kevin Zhu (61st).
Michael Wells and Austyn Harris took 62nd and 83rd, respectively. The boys’ field included 212 runners representing 23 schools.
Girls team scores: Richmond Hill 79, Savannah Christian 121, Savannah Arts 123, Kell 153, Bluffton 156, Effingham County 192, South Effingham 193, Camden County 223, St. Vincent’s 223, Glynn Academy 228, Savannah Country Day 261, Upson Lee 315, West Laurens 320, Shiloh 329, Bradwell Institute 382, Southeast Bulloch 387, Tattnall County 463
Boys team scores: Wayne County 74, Shiloh 89, Kell 132, Savannah Arts 129, Richmond Hill 152, Bluffton 227, Glynn Academy 233, Beaufort 243, Camden County 243, Benedictine 296, Bradwell Institute 298, Upson Lee 312, Effingham County 323, Savannah Christian 356, Southeast Bulloch 356, South Effingham 360, Tattnall County 375, Battery Creek 511, Island 534, Savannah Country Day 545, Brunswick 604, New Hempstead, 632, Calvary Day 678
Kickoffs at 7 p.m.
The Richmond Hill High School football game Thursday night will kick off at 7 p.m., the school announced Monday. The game is at home against Johnson. Kickoff was originally scheduled to for 7:30 p.m.
Bryan County High School's opener is at 7 p.m. Thursday as well. The Redskins play host to Calvary Day. The game will be on WSAV 3 as the station's Thursday Night Blitz Game of the Week.
Barfield almost gets no-no
Bryan County High School pitcher Brooke Barfield came close to a no-hitter Saturday in the Lady Redskins’ 7-0 win over Atkinson County.
Barfield allowed only one hit in the Region 2-AA contest, a seventh-inning single. She struck out seven and walked three to pick up her third win of the season.
Bryan County, meanwhile, scored two runs in the first, two more in the second, one in the fourth and two in the sixth while improving to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the region.
Barfield led the team at the plate, as well, going went 4-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. Alana Walker was 3-for-3 and drove in two runs. Mindy Myers and Julianne Brown also had hits for the Lady Redskins, who Friday squeaked out a 9-7 comeback win over Houston County.
In that contest, Logan Harrell was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and Kaylin Leggett was 3-for-5 with two RBIs to pace Bryan County. Taylor Roop was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and Myers was 2-for-3.
The Lady Redskins played at St. Vincent’s on Tuesday and are at Jeff Davis today. They play host to Vidalia at 5 p.m. Thursday.