The Dawson County High School varsity cross country team squared up against some tough competitions Oct. 2 at the Mountain Invitational at Unicoi State Park in Helen.

The meet was hosted by White County High School.

"Thursday was tough. The level of competition we faced was mind blowing," said Head Coach Charles Beusse. "As a whole though, I was pleased with how well both of our teams responded to the added pressure and level of competition. Of the 33 teams present at this meet, 18 were ranked within the top 10 in the state for their classification."

The Lady Tigers varsity girls' team finished in 15th place out of 26 teams. Dawson County amassed 350 points.

Winning the team event was South Forsyth with 33 team points.

Runners-up went to host White County with 118 points.

Freshman Marley Hamby posted the best finish for Dawson County with a time of 21:40 for 38th place. Hamby ran a great race, smashing her personal record.

There were 190 runners in the event.

Adding to the Dawson County team score were: Cassidy Lecours (22:44), Ansley Costley (23:02), Melanie Rimawi (23:14) and Faith Sinclair (23:18).

Also running for the varsity girls were Nicole Chumbley (23:41) and Taylor Grindstaff (23:47).

"I was pleased with how these girls performed, but we do have lots to work on prior to region. All season, Cassidy and Taylor have really led this group of girls and done a great job of it. I'll be relying on them heavily in the coming weeks to get all we can out of this group of young ladies," Beusse said.

Winning the individual title was Savannah Carnahan from South Forsyth with a time of 17:40.

For the varsity boys, the team came away with a 14th place finish, earning 361 team points.

Jacob Poston led the Tigers with a personal best time of 17:15. The time was good for a 30th place finish.

Also scoring for Dawson County were: Chris Shelp (17:59), Ethan Clark (18:18), Owen Jordan (18:19) and Brandon Barker (18:23).

Garrett Carlisle and Seth Miller also competed in the varsity race posting their season best times.

Capturing the team title was North Hall with 73 points. The Trojans were followed by second place team South Forsyth with 77 points.

"This is such a young group of guys and the talent level and potential these guys have is great," said Beusse. "Senior Brandon Barker has been a very good leader for our varsity team this season, being the only runner currently in the top five with previous cross country experience. He has really helped to mature these young guys quickly and put them in a position for success."

Chase Kennedy from East Jackson High School covered the 5,000-meter race in 15:51 to take first place overall.

Runner-up went to Quintin Miles from North Hall with a time of 15:53.

There were more than 200 runners in the meet for the boys.

Both teams will race at 4 p.m. Oct. 2 at East Jackson High School.