CONYERS, Ga. – Matthew Pham and Jasmine Jones led Buford cross country Saturday at the Gwinnett County Championships at the Georgia International Horse Park.
Pham placed fifth in the boys varsity 5K with a time of 16:37.62, while Jones was credited with a runner-up finish in a girls varsity race that ended prematurely because of a course-management mistake.
Pham Earns Top-Five Finish
Pham produced one of the day's top individual performances in a competitive boys field.
Brookwood junior Malcolm Phillips won the race in 15:50.64, followed by teammate Isaac Dehnke in 16:01.94. North Gwinnett's Eli Harper placed third in 16:02.43, and Hebron Christian's Javier Silva finished fourth in 16:35.57.
Pham crossed the line approximately two seconds behind Silva to secure fifth place in 16:37.62.
Buford finished sixth in the varsity team standings with 134 points and an average scoring time of 17:43.
Senior Zachary LaForce was the Wolves' second finisher, placing 24th in 17:32.47. Junior Max Steele followed in 32nd with a time of 17:57.60.
Sophomore Sam Foster placed 36th in 18:12.21, and sophomore Ethan Bailey completed Buford's scoring five with a 41st-place finish in 18:18.71.
Matthew Jennings crossed the line 46th in 18:20.63, followed by Christopher Taylor in 60th at 18:43.66. Tripp Bennett finished in 18:58.74, Nicholas Padin recorded a time of 19:28.63 and Joseph Alanis completed the course in 19:57.45.
North Gwinnett won its first boys county championship behind three top-10 finishes. Brookwood placed second, followed by Mill Creek, Hebron Christian and Norcross.
Girls Varsity Race Ends Early
The girls varsity competition was disrupted late in the race when the intended route was mistakenly blocked and runners were directed away from the correct turn. The error occurred near the final hill with approximately 1,200 meters remaining.
Because the runners did not complete the proper course, meet officials were unable to produce accurate finishing times or complete official results. Video captured near the two-mile mark was used to reconstruct the approximate running order.
Jones was recognized in second place based on that review, but no official finishing time was recorded.
North Gwinnett and Mill Creek were declared co-champions after officials determined that the team race was too close to separate at the final reliable checkpoint.
JV Boys Finish Sixth
Buford placed sixth in the boys junior varsity competition with 127 points and an average scoring time of 20:11.
Mateo Cabezas led the JV Wolves with a 12th-place finish in 19:21.58. William Mayorga placed 14th in 19:27.37, and Hunter Curry followed in 15th with a time of 19:29.42.
Udim Miranda finished in 21:13.20, while Aldo Robles completed Buford's scoring lineup in 21:27.38.
JV Girls Place Fourth
Buford's junior varsity girls finished fourth with 106 points.
Jessica Chini paced the Wolves with a 13th-place finish. Lauryn D'Agostino, Daniela Contreras, Katie Dominguez and Victoria Langlois rounded out Buford's five scoring runners.
Full boys and junior varsity results are available through MileSplit Georgia.
