The 2016 Lady Braves Cross-Country team (L-R): Coach Cynthia O’Reilly, Holly Moreland, Lacey Hindman, Katelyn Smith, and Coach Lindsay Stewart

(Columbus, GA) — Junior Lady Brave cross-country athlete Holly Moreland brought home a third place finish at the Region 5-AA finals last Thursday at Kinnett Stadium in Columbus to earn her second consecutive trip to the GHSA Cross-Country State Championships this Friday with a 12:45 PM start at Carrollton High School.

A time of 22:32.82 put Moreland just behind first place finisher Margaret Henry and second place finisher Emily Griner, both from Lamar County High School. Lamar dominated the girls’ meet with six top 10 finishers.

Junior Lacey Hindman also had a strong finish for the Lady Braves finishing in ninth place with a time of 25:07.72 to finish just three spots from state. Katelyn Smith finished in 19th place for the Lady Braves.

Moreland was excited by her finish and is excited to once again compete at state. She first picked up a love for running when she was much younger.

“I started to like running when I was in elementary school,” says Moreland. “When we had to do the fitness test each year, I would usually finish first even ahead of the boys.”

2016 Braves Cross-Country team (L-R): Komari Clark, Zeke Lewis, Dawson Cao, Eli Fairbanks, Garrett Callahan (in front), Hollis Alsobrook, and Oren Richards

In the boys competition, Komari Clark was the best runner for the Braves finishing in 23rd place with a time of 20:48.46.

Other Brave finishers included Garrett Callahan (28th), Hollis Alsobrook (29th), Eli Fairbanks (34th), Zeke Lewis (35th), Dawson Cao (37th), and Oren Richards (38th).

The cross country Braves are co-coached by Cynthia O’Reilly and Lindsay Stewart.

“I feel like we’ve made a great improvement from what we started with to where we are now and I am very proud of the boys and the girls,” says O’Reilly. “We are especially proud of Holly, she has worked really hard this season.”

“I think for us we are new coaches and the kids are mostly brand new so most of our goals are just personal right now,” says Stewart.