The girls and boys of Heritage cross country claimed championship titles, respectively at a Morgan County meet on Monday.

"We felt like we should have won going in and we won pretty convincingly. It's a boost to our confidence," Scott Wade, Heritage head coach, said.

Wade added that the boys were still missing their No. 1 runner from last year, who may return to the team Saturday. Still, the boys had senior Samuel Wells and junior TJ Wilson who finished second and third respectively.

"We're a contender to qualify for state, I think," Wade said.

The Lady Patriots shined the brightest. Heritage freshmen Abby Wilcox and Gracie Wilson, and sophomore Synia White claimed first, second and third respectively.

"There's a third (freshman) they didn't get to see. We've added three real good freshmen. The other one's Emily Bradley. She'll be back shortly," Wade said. "We're not doing a rebuilding year this year. We reloaded with that group and they compliment the sophomore girls we had last year and it's reinvigorated our seniors. Our seniors are more spry. The complacency is gone and we're more intense."

"Our girls were absolutely dominant at Morgan county," he added. "Five runners in the top seven with seven schools there, that's not even close for the other teams. You could add the other six schools together and they couldn't beat us."

Wade thinks the region looks good for the girls. He says he can see them qualifying for state and possibly a region title, but says Flowery Branch is probably the team to beat in the region.

"Definitely, I think both teams can get out of region," Wade said. "The girls maybe a region title. It's still early in the season to gauge everybody in the state, but for the girls, we like to talk about a top-10 finish and if we make some progress maybe even a podium which is top four for the girls."

"For the guys, our goal is to get out of region," Wade said. "Let's be top four at region and once we're there, once you get out of our region, top-15 in state is a real possibility. We'll see as we get further in the season what everybody else is doing."

This weekend Heritage will compete at the Clara Bowl Invitational at Berry College.

"This weekend we'll get a real good barometer of matching up against some of the very best teams in the state of Georgia at the Berry Invite," Wade said. "There will be no more secrets or questions about how good we are after this weekend."