Both Dawson County High School cross country teams were in action over the weekend at Blessed Trinity High School.

Six of the top 10 AA schools in the state were at the meet, providing a real test for both teams.

The girls team finished strong in sixth place and Maddy Walters brought home top honors in the varsity race by 25 seconds.

Maddy raced a solid race, said coach Brian DeRose. It was a tough course and she was running against some tough 4A and 5A runners. On top of that, there were a couple of college coaches there to watch her race.

Maddy ran very well despite the pressure. We are right on track for the end of the season. Her training is going very well right now.

Behind Walters were Rachel Gloeckner, Morgan Collette, Savannah Estes and Morgan Williams. Christine Schmid, Sara Bywaletz and Miranda Abe rounded out the varsity squad.

The girls raced OK, DeRose said. They could have been a little better. When you are up against this tough competition, everyone has to be on. There cant be a bad race if we are going to be competitive at the top level.

But its still mid-season and we have some meets to improve. The girls have a really strong team. We just need to race better.

The boys race saw the same tough competition as the girls. The varsity team was led by Tyler Thurmond, followed by Chris Bywaletz, Josh Styles, Jon Erickson, Preston Adams, Jake Hafermalz and Sam Wentworth. Nathan Shelp and Ross Walters rounded out the Tiger showing.

The guys had an OK day Saturday as well, said DeRose. Tyler Thurmond and Josh Styles had great performances, and the rest of the team ran alright. North Oconee beat us pretty good, and it will hopefully be a wake up call for both of our teams.

We are capable and have the talent to win region on both sides, but its going to take everyone on the team racing together to win. Its a long season and well be back.

The Tigers hosted a meet Monday afternoon, but results of that race were unavailable at presstime Tuesday.