Poncherella Leonard set the Bainbridge High School Bearcats school record with an outstanding 5K time of 15:56 Saturday, leading his cross-country team to first place in Region 1-AAAA and 11th place overall at the Westover High School Patriots and Lady Patriots Invitational Meet Saturday in Albany last Saturday.

The Lady Cats were second in Region 1-AAAA. Greg Waddell, who coaches the Bearcats and Lady Cats with head coach Yvette Greene, said there were approximately 30 teams from across the state competing in the Meet and they represented Region classifications from A to AAAAAA.

The top Lady Cats competitor was Uriyah Davis with a time of 21:59. Bearcats behind Leonard in the boys division were Caleb Harris with a time of 17:20, Bennett Enfinger with a time of 18:00, Brendan Greene with a time of 18:31 and Perry Waddell with a time of 19:07.

Lady Cats behind Davis in the girls division were Camry Fillingame with a time of 23:26, Aida Diaz with a time of 24:18 and Aileen Mejia with a time of 24:32.

“The strong caliber of competition we competed against in Westover Meet was a real challenge to our runners and t hey stood up to it well,” coach Waddell said. “Their practice and hard work are really paying off.”