The Flowery Branch boys and girls cross country teams finished in first place Satruday at the Great American Cross Country Race in Birmingham, Ala.

Daniel Martinez finished first for the Flowery Branch boys, seventh in the race, with a time of 17 minutes, 11 seconds.

Maurice Riden (9th), Kenny Slavik (18th), Jeffrey Velez (20th) and David Harris (22nd) were the other top-25 finishers for the Falcons.

On the girls’ side, Flowery Branch’s Kiara Woods finished first overall with a time of 20:15.

Ilene Dzizo (8th), Utami Ketchum (11th) and Anna Lopera (25th) rounded out the top-25 finishers for the Lady Falcons.

Flowery Branch’s next race is Oct. 25 at the Last Chance Invitational in Carrollton.

SOFTBALL

Jefferson takes second at region tournament

The Lady Dragons won five out of six games in the Region 8-AA Tournament on Friday and Saturday at Oconee Veterans Park in Oconee to finish second in the region.

With its showing, Jefferson moves on to the State Sectionals in Dalton where it will play Adairsville at 6 p.m. Friday.

Kara Perry picked up five wins out of six starts in the circle for Jefferson during the tournament. Total, Perry pitched 41 innings and amassed 28 strikeouts while only giving up 19 hits.

Brianna Caudell, Callie Holloway and Jennifer Brueshaber led the way at the plate for the Lady Dragons.

During the tournament, Caudell went 8-for-15 with four singles, a double, three triples, three RBIs and two runs scored, Holloway went 6-for-12 with four doubles, two triples, three RBIs and three runs scored and Brueshaber went 2-for-4 with a single, double and two runs scored.

Eschen wins at Georgia Golden Olympics

Hall County resident Larry Eschen won a gold medal and two silvers on Sept. 27 at the Georgia Golden Olympics in Houston County.

Eschen won a gold medal in basketball shooting, and a pair of silver medals in clock golf and football accuracy.