The junior varsity cross country team opened the season Sept. 1 with a meet at the War Eagle Invitational at Chestatee Middle School in Gainesville.

There were 13 girl's teams in the race, with the Lady Tigers pulling out a second place finish.

Dawson County earned 68 team points, falling six points short to winner Gainesville High School who had 62 points.

Dawson County placed three runners in the top 10. The team was led by Lindsey Knotts who crossed the finish line in fifth place with a time of 24:35.

In sixth place was Nicole Chumley (24:45) and seventh place went to Dana Little (24:49).

Team points also went to Iris Delira with a 16th place and a time of 26:23 and Laura Anne Branson in 34th place with a time of 28:54.

There were 142 runners in the meet for the girls.

"In the girls JV race, Lindsey Knotts looked great," said Head Coach Charles Beusse. "She (Knotts) is a senior, but new to cross country. She has been moved up to varsity for our next race and should contribute quite a bit this season."

Also running for the Lady Tigers were Caroline Collett and Heidi Collett.

Taking the first place medal was Laken Stiles from Rabun County with a time of 23:47.

In the JV boy's race at Chestatee, the Tigers came away with a fifth-place finish out of 16 teams.

Dawson County scored 140 team points.

Taking the team title was Gilmer County with 90 points, barely holding off second place finisher West Hall with 91 points.

Leading the Tigers was Nico Poston with a time of 21:06 and a 13th place position.

"I was pleased with what I saw from Nico Poston. He led our JV team and had himself a great race for it to be his first ever," Beusse said.

Also scoring team points for Dawson County were: Jacob Sinclair-15th (21:11), Aaron Garcia-25th (21:40), Caleb Regnier-31st (22:02) and Levi Baggett-56th (22:51). Nate Umberger and Andrew Hafermalz also completed the 5,000-meter race for the Tigers.

More than 220 athletes ran in the boy's race.

Taking first place was Junior Gonzalez from Johnson High School with a time 19:14.

Both teams will race again Saturday at Marist High School.