Bulldogs close out regular season at region meet 



Thursday, October 30, 2003 3:58 AM EST
 
By Scott Blusiewicz 
Rockdale Neighbor Sports Editor


The cross country teams at Rockdale County High School completed a successful regular 
season at the Region 8AAAA meet last Saturday.

The Rockdale County girls team earned the school's first berth in the cross country 
postseason by finishing fourth at the region meet and qualifying for the state sectional 
meet Saturday at Gainesville College. The Lady Bulldogs will compete against the third- 
and fourth-place teams from every region in Class AAAA, a total of 16 teams. The teams 
who finish in the top eight at the sectional meet will advance to the state meet in 
Carrollton Nov. 8. Rockdale County finished with 85 points to finish behind Heritage, 
Winder-Barrow and Loganville.

"We're glad to qualify for sectionals," said first-year coach Chad Suddeth. "That's the 
first time either [Rockdale County High] team qualified for any kind of postseason meet. 
Since we're coming from such a strong region, I really believe that we can finish in the 
top eight and qualify for state. 
 

In addition to the girls team advancing to sectionals, Rockdale County sophomore Carys 
Fincher finished fifth at the region meet with a time of 21 minutes, 28 seconds. Fincher's 
performance qualified her for the state meet regardless of how the team does at sectionals. 
Fincher narrowly missed qualifying for the state meet as a freshman last year, as she 
finished seventh at the region meet and was within nine seconds of qualifying for the state 
meet.

"I didn't have to motivate her at all this year," Suddeth said. "Her finish last year 
provided all the motivation she needed to come out and have a successful season. She's had 
five first-place finishes for us this season and she's only a sophomore. Her work ethic 
and determination is unparalleled when you talk about a high school athlete."

In addition to Fincher, Rockdale County received strong races from junior Kayla Johnson 
and her twin sister Katie, as well as junior Alicia Bellis and senior Jenna Williamson. 
Kayla Johnson finished 14th at the meet with a time of 23:53, while Katie Johnson finished 
20th with a time of 24:29. Bellis was 22nd with a time of 24:41 and Williamson was 32nd 
with a time of 26:27.

The Rockdale County boys team did not fare as well as the girls. The boys finished seventh 
in the region with 220 points. The Bulldogs were without senior Brian Lundsford, who is 
the team's No. 2 runner. Lundsford was hospitalized several weeks ago with an unknown virus. He has been released from the hospital, but doctors have yet to discover what the virus is. As a result of his illness, the senior runner has lost 30 pounds in the last month. In addition to Lundsford's illness, junior Timothy Van Heest competed in the race despite suffering second-degree burns on his foot, which prevented him from practicing for two weeks.

The Bulldogs finished strong at the meet given their recent health problems and the depth 
of the region. Rockdale County's seventh-place finish is still respectable in a region 
meet with a 12-team field. Senior Cody Leblanc was the team's top finisher, as he earned 
23rd place in the meet with a time of 19:08. Van Heest finished 44th overall with a time 
of 20:36. Sophomore Taylor Boggus finished 49th with a time of 20:50 while teammates 
Andre Russell and Drew Sheffield ran times of 21:20 and 21:38 to finish 51st and 53rd,
respectively.

"As far as the boys team was concerned, I was kind of disappointed," said Suddeth. "We 
really thought we were better than the seventh team in the region. Unfortunately, the 
injury bug hit us late in the season."