Piedmont Runners Excel at Region

The Piedmont Academy varsity cross country runners competed at the Region 4-AA meet at Berry College last Thursday.

The Lady Cougars finished third as a team, which qualified them for state as a squad. Four individual runners also placed in the top 10 including Lanie King (sixth), Lynne Marie Edwards (seventh), Bridgette Phillips (ninth) and Lucy Strickland (10th). Emmie Kelly and Matti Smith also helped lead the Piedmont girls to third place overall.

To qualify for the state meet as an individual, a runner must finish in the top 10.

Piedmont’s varsity boys did not have enough team members to qualify for state, but Logan Partenza qualified as an individual by finishing seventh. Chris Coogler, Austin Bass and Andrew Mitchell also represented the Piedmont boys at the 4-AA meet.

“I was extremely proud and impressed with how our runners competed,” coach Traci Brady said. “They really stepped it up and most of them recorded personal best times. I am looking forward to coaching these runners next year.”