Athens Academy's Graham Blanks, Anna Marian Block finish first in Area 2-A private cross country meet

Athens Academy’s Graham Blanks and Anna Marian Block finished first, and the Athens Academy cross country teams finished second in the Area 2-A private meet last Thursday at Athens Christian.

For photos of the meet, click here

Blanks finished in a time of 16:52 to win the boys’ meet, followed by teammate Alex Branch, who finished second in a time of 17:02. Ryan Iyer finished fourth in a time of 17:10. Trevor Bone (29th, 19:07) and Elliott Williamson (32nd, 19:11) also scored for the Spartans, who finished with 68 points to finish second.

Hebron Christian finished first with 49 points. Wesleyan (77) and Providence Christian (125) finished third and fourth, respectively, to qualify for the state meet.

Athens Christian finished eighth as a team but Noah Irwin finished sixth to qualify for state as an individual. The top six runners automatically qualified for the state meet regardless of how the team finished.

Block finished first in the girls’ meet with a time of 19:31. She was followed by teammate Emily Elder, who finished second in a time of 20:09. Sara Irvine (10th, 22:17), Lucy Waugh (13th, 22:22) and Kate Kleiber (22nd, 22:48) also scored for the Lady Spartans, who finished with 48 points.

Providence Christian won with 44 points. Wesleyan (63) and Athens Christian (132) finished third and fourth, respectively, to qualify for state.

Maude Todd led Athens Christian with a 15th-place finish in a time of 22:26. Kayla Martin (26th, 23:46), Gabby Martin (28th, 23:59), Drew Davis Bailey (29th, 24:01) and Halleigh Phillips (34th, 24:48) also scored for Athens Christian.