Buford cross country runner Jasmine Jones opened the season with a first-place finish and a new course record Saturday, completing the 5K race in 19 minutes, 45 seconds.

Jones finished more than 23 seconds ahead of runner-up Eloise Jones of Hebron Christian, who recorded a time of 20:08.48.

Her performance led the Buford varsity girls to third place with 90 points, behind meet champion Milton (51) and runner-up Lambert (87).

Two more Buford runners finished among the top 20. Olivia Park placed 12th in 21:58.51, while Maye Nordholz finished 18th in 22:40.22.

On the boys' side, Matthew Pham led Buford with a seventh-place finish in 17:34.42. Max Steele placed 13th with a time of 18:02.44, and Zachary LaForce finished 17th in 18:12.07.

Those performances helped the Buford varsity boys finish fourth with 79 points, just five points behind second-place Hebron Christian and 10 behind meet champion Jackson County.

Buford completed its season-opening meet with two top-four team finishes, six runners among the top 20 individually and a course-record victory from Jones.