Scotland’s Courtney Poole placed fifth overall Sept. 22 at the Lady Scots’ meet in Rockingham, N.C., helping to lead Scotland to their first first place finish of the season.

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The Scotland High School men’s and women’s cross country teams picked up their first top finish of the season Thursday afternoon in Rockingham, N.C., topping Richmond and the Bucks in their third conference meet of the year.

The Scotland High School men’s team picked up five top-10 finishes at the course at Hinson Lake, while the Lady Scots placed five runners in the top-6 positions to finish first overall.

The men’s team earned 23 points at the meet, besting the Raiders by 31 points, while Hoke finished third overall, just one point back of Richmond with a team score of 55 points.

The Lady Scots blew through their field, posting a team score of 17, while Richmond and Hoke took second and third, respectively.

“This was the best race we have run so far this season,” Scotland head coach David Brooks sad. “The times were a little high, but that is expected after running two meets in three days. The boys had a strong showing with four out of the top-5 runners, and five out of the top-10. Sophomores Kendall Romaine and Brandon Gibson led the team with second and fourth place finishes, respectively, while freshmen John Holloway, Logan Ward and Jared Torgerson continue placing in the top-10 with third, fifth and ninth place finishes. With such a strong, dedicated group, I look forward to coaching these boys for the next three years.

“The girls dominated their race, placing five out of the top-6 and were just two points away from a perfect score,” he said. “Cori Newton ran away from the field finishing a full two minutes ahead of her nearest competitor. First-year runners Sydney Faulk and Bree Johnson ran to strong second and third place finishes and continue to lower their times. Veterans Courtney Poole and Marina Baranik stepped up as well, running to fifth and sixth place finishes, their lowest of the season.”

Romaine led the men’s team with a second place finish overall, finishing just a second back of Richmond’s Randy Altman with a time of 19:07.

After Romaine’s finish, the Scots took the next three spots in the top-5, as John Holloway (19:42), Brandon Gibson (19:52) and Logan Ward (20:02) finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, to give Scotland four out of the top-5 finishers.

Jared Torgerson rounded out Scotland’s top-10 performers, finishing ninth overall with a time of 20:34.

For the Lady Scots, Newton blistered through the field, finish a full two minutes in front of Scotland’s Faulk for first place overall. Newton ran the course in 23:09 for the meet’s top spot, with Faulk taking second for the Lady Scots with a time of 25:20.

Johnson picked up Scotland’s third top-5 finish, finishing third with a time of 26:22.

Poole ran a time of 26:47, good for fifth overall, to push four Lady Scots into the top-5.

Scotland’s Baranik finished sixth overall at the meet in a time of 27:51 to help Scotland earn their first place result.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will return to action next week, when they travel to Lumberton, N.C.

“The only team we have yet to run against now is Lumberton,” Brooks said. “It will be good to go down there on Tuesday and see how our guy’s and girl’s teams stack up against them.”

Meet time is set for 5 p.m.