The Dawson County High School cross country team traveled to The Wesleyan School in Norcross for a meet on Saturday.

The #10-ranked Lady Tigers finished in 11th place overall as a team, there were 15 top-notch schools running the 3.1-mile course.

Marietta High School took first place with a team score of 68.

The Lady Devils were followed by First Presbyterian Day with 82 points and Dunwoody with 99 points. The Lady Tigers scored 282 points in the event.

Madalyn Walters led Dawson County High School with a sixth place finish and a time of 20:00.65. Walters is the 10th ranked runner in all of AA and 62nd-ranked in all classifications in the state.

Grace Tinkey of First Presbyterian Day captured the girls’ individual title with a time of 18:15.55.

Also running in the varsity race for the Lady Tigers were Michelle Burkett (23:10), Emma Salmena (23:24), Rachel Gloeckner (23:26), Morgan Williams (28:47), Morgan Collett, Allie Costley, Summer Lewis, Savannah Estes and Bethany Auten.

“The most encouraging result of the day was the time gap between our two through five runners. The time gap at the beginning of the season was close to three minutes. Now we are down to 42 seconds. This time gap being very small is a key component to success in cross country scoring,” said Head Coach Brian DeRose.

On the boys’ side, the 7th-ranked Tigers finished in 10th place in a very strong field.

Dawson managed 291 points.

Peachtree Ridge captured first place with a team total of 48 points.

Peachtree Ridge was followed by Marietta, 62 points, and Dunwoody with 133 points.

Tiger Tyler Thurmond turned in the best time with a 17:59.32 finish. The time was good enough for 41st place out of 178 runners.

Running sub-19 minute times for Dawson County were Jon Erickson (18:08), Preston Adams (18:36), Chris Bywaletz (18:56) and Sam Wentworth (18:59).

Also running good times for the Tigers were Luke Williamson, Zach Yarborough, Jake Hafermalz, Mason Carr and Harris Day.

“The guys team is running very well right now. Sam Wentworth and Zach Yarborough have both improved greatly in the last three weeks, just in time for the important races at the end of the season. The guys’ goal is to finish in the top two at region. The region course is very tough and we are well suited for that race,” DeRose said.

Both teams will compete in the Region 8-AA competition this Saturday at Jefferson High School.

“The girls region will be very tight. There are five teams very close to each other, making for a very competitive race,” DeRose said.