Pre-Season Polling Show Cross County Eagles Fourth, Fifth

Voluntary workouts for the East Jackson Eagles cross country team continued this week. With their inaugural season behind them, the Eagles hope to settle in and begin making their mark on the 8-AA landscape when the season kicks off later this year.

Pre-season polling has the Eagle boys’ team slated to finish fourth.


The boys hope to follow up on a strong first season as the 2007 8-AA region champs, defeating Oconee County. They went on to finish 10th at state.

Overall, the team won seven of 12 meets. Kevin Kesler, Brandon Banks, Josh Kesler, Andy Van Deventer and Eric Van Deventer were all named to the 2007 boys’ All-Region team.

With the bottom four teams leaving 8-AA, Jefferson and Riverside coming into the region, and teams like North Oconee and Banks County expected to be in the hunt, the East Jackson boys will have to work hard to repeat as region champs.

Pre-season polling shows the East Jackson girls cross country team slated to be around fifth in the region. The same polling shows that Jefferson’s girls are expected to come out on top.

The girls placed fifth in the region last year, missing a trip to state by a mere two points. The four teams from 8-AA that moved on to state placed ninth or better, showing the potential the Lady Eagles displayed in their first season.

The team won two meets, and placed third in the NEGA Championships in August, despite battling numerous injuries during the year.

Sherry Blalock, Jamie Dove and Alexis Powell were named to the 8-AA All-Region team.

Seven veteran runners return to the girls’ team in 2008, giving the Eagles a strong core of seasoned runners.