The Flowery Branch High cross country team finished first in the boys and girls races at the Mountain Invitational on Tuesday at Unicoi State Park in Helen.
North Hall's Nolan Clark led the area boys runners with a 16-minute, 47-second second-place finish. Daniel Martinez led the Falcons with a fourth-place finish (17:00). North Hall's Ty McCormack finished fifth (17:02), Gainesville's Aurelio Montano finished sixth (17:07), North Hall's Cody Barger finished eighth (17:11) and West Hall's Andy Martin finished 10th (17:16).
Flowery Branch's Kiara Woods led the area girls runners, finishing fifth (20:01). White County's Jessie Dotson finished sixth (20:15), Chestatee's Kelsey Neukum finished seventh (20:26) and Flowery Branch's Eileen Devico finished 11th (21:05).
The next area meet is the Coach Wood Invitational at 8 a.m. Oct. 18 at Gainesville State College.
SOFTBALL
The Buford High softball team advanced to the finals of the Region 6-AA tournament with a 11-0 win against Blessed Trinity on Tuesday in Norcross.
Karly Fullem struck out 10 hitters en route to her 12th win of the season for Class AA's No. 1 ranked Lady Wolves (26-2-1).
Alysha Rudnik led Buford hitters with a double, a triple, two runs and three RBIs. Kallie Case hit an inside-the-park home run and had two runs and two RBIs. Lexi Overstreet was 2-for-3 with a double, a run and two RBIs. Whitney Holman had two runs and an RBI and Samantha Ramey added three hits.
Buford has a chance to clinch the region title at 5 p.m. Thursday when it meets the winner of today's Greater Atlanta Christian vs. Blessed Trinity game.
Dawson County 3, Jefferson 2
Cheyenne Bennett earned the win for the Lady Tigers with seven strikeouts in a region 8-AA tournament game on Tuesday in Watkinsville.
Tiffany Rowan and Katie Pulley led Dawson County with two hits each.
Jefferson (12-14) plays Rabun County a 2 p.m. Thursday. If it wins, the Lady Dragons will advance to the next round of the loser's bracket and play at 4 p.m. Thursday.
VOLLEYBALL
West Hall splits region meet
The Lady Spartans defeated Gainesville (25-22, 25-13) and lost to Creekview (25-12, 25-13) in a region tri-match Tuesday in Oakwood.
Jessica Hollis had 23 digs and two aces for West Hall (15-22, 3-7 Area 7-AAA). Abigail Grindle had 12 digs and seven kills, Erica Grainger had 11 assists, five digs, three aces and three kills and McKenzie Jackson added eight kills.
Gainesville also lost to Creekview (25-11, 25-16). Kiki Thompson led the Lady Red Elephants (5-24, 1-11 Area 7-AAA) with 11 kills, nine digs, four assists and one ace. Taylor Ricketts with 10 digs, six kills, four assists and three aces, Loren Thomas had 13 assists, three digs and one kill and Jasmine Jones had four blocks and three kills. Katelyn Whelchel had three assists and three kills and Kate Callahan had four digs against West Hall.
West Hall wraps up its regular season against Harrison and Cass at 6 p.m. Thursday at Harrison. West Hall faces Buford and Johnson at 5 p.m. Thursday at Buford.
Johnson sweeps at home
The Lady Knights defeated Buford (25-15, 25-20) and Madison County (25-12, 25-19) on Tuesday in Oakwood.
Katie Clark led Johnson (22-12, 7-3 Area 7-AAA) with 18 kills, six aces and two blocks. Jordan Gustavel had 13 kills, three aces and two blocks and Annabeth Peace added five digs against Buford.
Johnson and Buford meet again, along with West Hall, at 5 p.m. Thursday in Buford.
Lakeview falls to North Oconee
The Lady Lions lost to North Oconee (28-26, 25-11) on Tuesday in Gainesville.
Liz Clark had five kills, Megan Rochester had three kills and Morgan Black had two kills for Lakeview Academy. Louisa Jacobs and Emilie Norton each had five digs.
Lakeview Academy faces East Jackson and West Forsyth at 5 p.m. Thursday at East Jackson.
Flowery Branch sweeps Gilmer
The Lady Falcons ended region play with a two-game win against Gilmer on Thursday in Flowery Branch.
Danielle Miller had six aces, two kills and one assists for Flowery Branch (28-9, 8-2 Area 7-AAA). Megan Grewett had five kills and four aces and Taylor Dickerson, Nicole Reed and Kathryn McMillin each had two kills.
Flowery Branch plays host to North Hall and Shiloh at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Chestatee splits at home
The Lady War Eagles split a home meet with a win against East Hall (25-13, 25-12) and a loss to West Forsyth (24-26, 25-17, 25-17) on Tuesday in Gainesville.
Alura Roe had 15 kills two aces, two digs and one block for Chestatee (16-10, 7-4 Area 7-AAA). Ali Burnette had 21 digs, five aces and four kills, Jessica Porter had 34 digs and two aces and Melissa Bailey had five kills and three digs.
Chestatee's season is now complete. East Hall plays host to Winder-Barrow and Morgan County at 5 p.m. Thursday.
High school results may be reported by 10:30 p.m. by calling 770-718-3406, e-mail sports@gainesvilletimes.com. Results reported after deadline will appear in the following day's paper.