By Greg Oshust

goshust@cherokeetribune.com

DULUTH - Woodstock's boys cross country team got the 2010 season off to a good start Saturday with its fourth-place finish in the Walton/Peachtree Ridge Stage Races at the River Green complex.

The Wolverines scored 34 points to finish fourth behind Brookwood (7), St. Pius X (22) and Collins Hill (26). Mill Creek (36) rounded out the top five.

For Woodstock coach Kirk Scharich, it was a successful first step as the Wolverines look for an equally strong showing at next week's Berry Invitational.

"We're moving in the right direction," Scharich said. "We're getting better. We're going to be at Berry next Saturday and, hopefully, the boys will be in the top three."

The Stage Races feature five races, or stages. The top-ranked runners on each team run in the fifth and final stage, while each squad's No. 2 runners compete in the fourth stage, the No. 3s in the third stage, the No. 4s in the second stage and the No. 5s in the first stage.

Each stage is 2 miles instead of the usual 5K (3.1-mile) distance run in most high school cross country races.

Alex Broome posted the fastest time for Woodstock, running 10 minutes, 6 seconds to finish fifth in Stage 5.

Not far behind Broome time-wise for the Wolverines was Jared Richmond, who won Stage 4 at 10:11.

"It was a pretty good race for the first race of the year," Richmond said. "I'm happy that our team did good."

Brett Carter finished 11th with a time of 10:27, while J.C. Cornett (10:35) and Miguel Gomez (11:15) were the Wolverines' other top finishers.

Woodstock freshman Morgan O'Toole made a successful varsity debut, finishing second among the girls with a time of 12:12 in Stage 5.

"I felt good," said O'Toole, who finished second with a time of 19:18 as an eighth-grader in last year Region 5AAAAA's junior varsity meet. "I wanted to break 12 (minutes), but it wasn't my day."

The Cherokee boys had some success in Saturday's Stage 5 race, with Travis Pope finishing 12th.

Etowah's boys were led by Josh Boudreau, who finished eighth in Stage 4 with a time of 10:42. Avery Pitts, who also ran the Stage 4 race, finished in 10:52, while Jesse Hildebrandt placed eighth in Stage 3 at 10:58.

The Etowah girls were led by Portia Keene, who ran 13:10 in Stage 5.