Quitman hosted its first ever cross country meet last Thursday with 13 teams on board for boys and girls varsity and junior varsity runs.

Wills Point took first place in boy’s varsity competition followed by Bland, Bishop Gorman, Rains and Quitman . The top five were followed in order by Edgewood, North Hopkins, Paul Pewitt, New Diana, Como-Pickton and Brook Hill.

The girl’s varsity found Quitman in sixth place behind Bishop Gorman, Edgewood, Wills Point, Rains and Como-Pickton. Following Quitman were Mt. Vernon, Bland and Paul Pewitt. For Quitman, Joanna Santiago was the top finisher in 20th place with a time of 15:16.61 followed by teammates Lizzy Herring 26th with a time of 15:48.34 and 27th Crystal Plata at 15:50.51. Citlaly Flores ran a 16:49.50 and Hannah Smith came in at 17:00.75.

Yantis varsity girls did not have a team entered but last year’s state finalist Maddie Hooker placed second with a fine time of 13:29.07 while her sister Maggie placed 11th at 14:36.98.

In JV boys competition Quitman took third place and Yantis fifth place. Running for Quitman and placing third was Brandon Jiminez with teammate Christian Decoske placing ninth. Also running for the Bulldog JV were Cody Hawley, Marco Gonzalez and Parker Simpkins.

Running for the Yantis JV were Carlos Lopez, Montana Ogle, David Johnson, Landon Marler and Dakota Hartog.

Quitman boy’s Head Coach Jim Reid was pleased with the outcome. “It was our first cross country meet to be the host and it went well. None of it could have been done without all the help from the people at the school and from the community,” Reid observed. “Everyone pitched in to make it a great day. Both our boy’s and girl’s teams competed really well. We had 13 teams show up we are looking forward to growing the meet making it bigger and better every single year.”

In the boy’s varsity Quitman placed fifth out of 11 teams. Quitman’s Dalton Brandon medaled placing 10th with a time of 19:17.57. Brandon was a region competitor last year and has high hopes of returning there with his eye on the state meet. Teammates Riley Flanagan came in 17th with a time of 19:56.42 followed closely by Ben Burroughs with a 20:03.31. Aiden Corrior sprinted past an Edgewood runner the final 40 yards posting a 20.21.91 time and 25th place. Matthew Smith ran a 22:38.51 and Jace Reid added a time of 25:15.86.

The Quitman teams are preparing for the Oct. 6 district meet which will be held at Mineola Nature Preserve.