By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

They’re headed to state.

Callaway High’s boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams both earned top-four finishes at the Region 5-AA meet on Saturday in Columbus to qualify for the state meet on Nov. 2 in Carrollton.

Led by senior Ashley Bowden’s fourth-place result, Callaway’s girls’ team finished third in the team standings.

In the boys’ race, senior Calik Kemp placed 10th to lead Callaway to a fourth-place finish.

Bowden has had a big season for Callaway that continued with Tuesday’s strong performance at Kinnett Stadium.

Bowden’s time of 23 minutes, 16 seconds in the 3.1-mile race was good enough for fourth place, and she was just four seconds out of third place.

“She’s had a phenomenal season,” Callaway coach Shonna Yawn said. “I think she’s placed in the top-10 in almost every race she’s been in. She has really set her bar high, and she set some personal goals at the start of the season. It’s her senior year, so she set some goals for what she wanted to do, and what she wanted to accomplish. She has not let anything hold her back.”

Also for Callaway, Vivian Streiff (27:15) placed 11th, Lydea Mayes (29:02) was 20th, Sara Belton (30:16) placed 23rd, Myracle Spence (37:17) was 29th.

In the boys’ race, Kemp completed the course in a time of 20:05 to finish 10th, and Desmon Nunley (20:16) was 11th. Lane Thompson (21:13) placed 19th, Avery Brooks (22:21) finished 27th, and Colton Alsobrook (23:22) and Maurice Delany (24:04) were 34th and 35th, respectively.

Yawn said that Alsobrook has made great strides this season.

“Colton is a first-year runner, and he has made big strides,” Yawn said. “He had his best race today. He started this year and it was almost 40 minutes, and he was at 23 today. That shows the heart and dedication. He may not be the quickest one on the team yet, but as a freshman he’s come in and given it everything he’s got, and he had a personal-best at the region race. He’s making the gains where he wants to be.”

Also for Callaway, Darrell Parham (25:43) was 38th, Elbin Jacob (25:59) was 39th, and Neil Ellison (28:21) placed 43rd.