Mustang boys, Dragon girls win Region 8-AAA titles
Houston’s boys cross country team won the Region 8-AAA boys title 14 consecutive years until last season when the Spartans of White Station defeated them. But, on Friday at Shelby Farms coach George Gibson’s team decided that one year without the region title plaque was long enough, as they blitzed the field taking 5 of the top 9 positions for a total of 30 points to easily outdistance the second-place Spartans (50 points) and Collierville (55). All three teams qualified for next Saturday’s state championships in Nashville.

The Mustangs were led by Paul Hill (16:51, 2nd place), Camelo Mannino (5th), Will Mischke (6th), AJ Bernstein (8th) and Kyle Smith (9th).

White Station’s Alex Bransford (3rd place), Nathan Coleman (4th) and Graham Wittington (7th) all finished in the top 10 to lead the Spartans.

The Dragons’ Kyle McLarty, a junior, took the individual honors winning with a time of 16:26 over the 5k course.

Memphis Central’s Larry Burton finished in 10th to earn a spot at the state meet.

Virginia Hine, a senior from White Station, dominated the girls portion of the region race, winning with a time of 18:42. In the team competition, Collierville and Houston battled for the region title with the Dragons edging the Mustangs by one point, 40 to 41. The Dragons top three runners — Sherell Hicks (2nd), Haley Greenwell (3rd) and Kristin Kelly (5th) finished before any Mustangs runners, giving Collierville the early edge. But, the Mustangs rallied back by sweeping 6th through 9th-place to make it close. Houston was led by Meredith McFarlin.

The third girls team to qualify was White Station. The Spartans finished with 44 points.