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Newton County runners earn top 25 finishes in Social Circle High Schools’ Redskins Invitational
NHS George
Kenton George was the top area finisher placing second in the Redskins Invitational on Sept. 21. - photo by Cassie Jones | The Covington News
EHS Grayson
Grayson Poynter placed third in the Redskins Invitational on Sept. 21, which contributed to Eastside's second place finish in the meet. - photo by Cassie Jones | The Covington News

SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — The third annual Redskins Invitational commenced at Social Circle High School on Wednesday, Sept. 21.  Eastside, Newton and Social Circle’s cross country teams competed in this year’s meet with the Eagles and Rams placing two runners in the top three. 

Eastside’s team, though, had the highest finish from the area placing second overall. Head coach Michael Jorgenson was pleased with his team's performance. 

"I'm very proud of the efforts of our athletes in training hard and pushing themselves during practice after school," Jorgenson said. 

Grayson Poynter finished with a 18:08.19 final time placing him third in the boys varsity 5K. Henry Meller placed 10th overall with a 19:38.06 finish. 

Malachi Scharf (20:14.57) placed 20th, Addison Hunt (20:25.15) finished 22nd and Levi Kingsley (20:35.93) concluded the top boy finishers at 25th. 

Though they didn’t finish in the top 10, assistant coach Caleb Watson highlighted Scharf, Hunt and Kingsley’s contributions to the second place finish for Eastside. 

“It was a great example of every runner having an impact on the outcome, not just our top couple of runners,” Watson said. “Great team growth.” 

Newton girls and boys teams wouldn't be outdone as the Rams placed five runners in the top 25. 

The top area finish was Kenton George who placed second finishing with a final time of 18:04.94 in the boys varsity 5K. Nia Barrett was the top finisher from all area girls teams with her eighth place finish after a 23:44.91 final time. 

Barrett's finish moves her into the top 10 for Newton girls listed in the Milesplit database that dates back to 2007. 

Jashae Noland (26:51.36) finished 15th, Kendyl Maddox (27:49.16) finished 22nd and Lauren Fraser (28:06.8) rounded out the top area finishers at 23rd. 

Head coach Scott Wade commended his team's efforts on Wednesday. 

"It was hot," Wade said of Wednesday's weather. "I was impressed with how well most of the kids handled the harsh conditions. 

"Jashae Noland, JaQuavis Snell and JayLan Streeter also posted big personal bests. KJ George got caught up in traffic at the start and had to put in a big last mile to work his way into second overall."