Course record falls at Blanchard Woods Park

In the first race of the 2010 cross country season, Greenbrier junior Chris Wilder set the boys 5K course record at Blanchard Woods Park.

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On Saturday, he beat that mark by 13 seconds. But he lost his course record.

Lakeside junior Sid Vaughn smashed the record of 17:11, finishing in a blazing 16:34 to earn the victory in the Public School Boys division of the ASU Jaguar Invitational.

"I just made it up all the hard hills and just felt good," Vaughn said. "Once I hit that flat part of the course, I just held (that pace)."

Washington County's Rashaun Tanner also topped the previous record, finishing third in 17:06.

"I knew Sid was going to try to break 17:11, but I didn't think he was trying to do that," said Wilder, who will next race against Vaughn on Oct. 30 in the Region 2-AAAA meet in Statesboro, Ga. "Sid was just a little too fast."

Lakeside's Chase Fowers was fourth in 17:19 and Nicholas MacDonald seventh in 17:57. For Greenbrier, Brandon Coombs (17:47) and Reggie Redd (17:54) were fifth and sixth.

The Wolfpack took the boys' title, finishing six points clear of the Panthers. Evans was fifth in the seven-team field.

Neither Greenbrier nor Lakeside was at full strength because Saturday was a testing date for the SAT. The Wolfpack were without Rick Mersereau, and the Panthers didn't have Shane Wilson and Rikin Shah on the boys' side and Katie Townsend on the girls' side.

Despite not having one of its top runners, Lakeside was the runaway winner in the girls' race. Providence Christian, of Lilburn, Ga., was second. Greenbrier finished third, Evans was fourth and Cross Creek fifth in the five-team field.

Lakeside senior Anna Bowles won the Public School Girls division in a time of 20:31. Sarah Bowles was second, four seconds behind, while fellow Panther Jasmine Payne took third, finishing in 21:26.

Evans' Jackie Ramos was fourth in 21:28. Lakeside's Jenny Lind finished fifth in 21:35. Gabby Lesieur (sixth in 21:53) led the way for Greenbrier.

"We've been racing a lot lately, so I kind of just wanted to not go as hard as I normally do," said Anna Bowles, the reigning Class AAAA state champion. "It was cool running with (Sarah)."

Grovetown sophomore Abigail Soderling had a notable day. As she crossed the finish line in eighth place, she saw the clock and knew she had broken her school record. She did so by 12 seconds, finishing in 22:52.

Asked whether she had planned to try to break the mark, Soderling replied: "No, not at all."

American Heritage was tops and Augusta Christian third in the five-team field for the Private School Girls division. Kelsey Dingle led the way for Augusta Christian, finishing fourth in 22:53.

Providence Christian took the title and Augusta Christian was third in the Private School Boys division. David Alemar was 13th in 23:09 for the Lions' best finish.