Marietta's Boys Dominate, Friedman Flawless, Billings Rocks at Coach Wood
(all Images by Jonathan Speights)
The day opened with the JV Championship races, which were respectively won by the Marist Girls and the Brookwood boys. The ladies of Marist placed 5 in the top 10, while the Brookwood boys captured 5 of the top 15 spots. Individual wins belonged to Frank Crippen of St. Pius in 17:03, and Meg Fennely of Marist in 21:14
Championship Girls
Lindsay Billings heads to the finish. her 18:00 flat at the Coach Wood Course was just amazing as she seems to get better every race
Ladies First, today. The gun sounded and the stacked 20 team field was off. Suspected front runners Morgan Ilse (Marist) and Lindsay Billings(Northview) found themselves shoulder to shoulder by the pond a little more than 600m into the race. Serena Tripodi (Lovett) was in tow, a few meters back. The lead “pack” consisted of M.J. Assinzo (Marietta), Avery Bussjager (Walton), Kinsley Green (Etowah), and Ashey Kehoe (Pope). Not far behind was the Mill Creek Triumvirate of the Petit sisters, Hannah and Camryn, and Sara Scales, along with Marist’s Writz, Faust and Marietta’s Dow
Morgan Ilse of Marist guts it out down the stretch to 2nd place in 18:24
Early on it looked like Marist’s to lose, as they had the most aggressive start with all 5 harriers in approximately the top 20-30. Northview, Harrison, Marietta, Milton, and Lovett were also off to a strong start. By the 2k mark the race was taking shape, as Billings and Ilse were still elbow to elbow after an approximate 5:35 opening mile. Tripodi had joined the Assinzo, Bussjager, Kehoe-pack opening around 5:50. Writz, Faust, Dow, and the MC super 3 were close together with the herd to follow..
Serena Tripodi of Lovett placed 3rd in the Championship Girls Race at 18:47
Northview began to close the gap on Marist. Harrison appeared to be fading a tad, and struggling to work through the tight pack. Milton had a pack of 4 around 30th place, and Lovett had their 3-5 in the top 40. By the 2 mile Billings (11:20ish) had put her foot down, and created a sizeable gap over her worthy opponent, Ilse (11:35ish). The chase pack was still together with Tripodi and MJ leading the way at 11:56.
The team race was beginning to be too tough to decipher with a Northview charge, and Katie Faust beginning to fade from Marist’s #2 toward their #4. The only thing that was clear was that it was down to Marist and Northview, and whose #2/3 could hold on, and whose #4/5 could catch the most. Milton’s pack was holding strong and Lovett’s 3-5 were moving up nicely through the congestion. Mill Creek’s 1-2-3 punch was strong, but could their 4 and 5 keep the gap close enough to stay in the trophy hunt?
Billings proved dominant, and powered for not only a win, but a Coach Wood Invitational meet record of 18:00:44! Ilse had separated enough to be out of trouble from the pack behind, and the charging Serena Tripodi. They finished 2-3 in 18:24 and 18:47. Alexandra Melehan of Woodstock had patiently (and stealthily!) moved her way into 4thand cracked 19 on a sluggish day at Gainseville in 18:58. Avery Bussjager finished a solid 5th in 19:04.
The team race remained dramatic, as Heintz and the Marist crew attempted to count places and Northview athletes and coaches tried to get a grasp of how they stacked up…. When the dust settled, it was a 1 point victory for Marist 89-90. The key seemed to be a solid performance by Marist’s #4 on the day-Kendall Nelson, by sticking close to their #3 and finishing on the heels of Northview’s #2- Anna Barefield.
Milton's tight pack served them well in the crowded field as they edged Lovett 152-162. Mill Creek finished 5th in 182.
Billings Comments: "I was excited to race Morgan this year, and match up since she had earned the title last year. She took it out pretty quick, so I spent the first mile catching her and settling in. Once I felt settled, about halfway, I felt good about pressing out into the lead. I listened to see if I could hear cheers or footsteps the whole second half. It was a great honor to take the win today, and I am proud of the team's efforts".
Morgan Ilse's comments:
I went out a little harder than planned, so that may have hurt my second mile. I hung tough once Lindsay moved out front and just tried to keep strong and hold second place and looked up to have Billings pull me along".
Championship Boys
Reilly Friedman cruises to the win in 15:50 defeating the best of the best in GA including Logan Poteet
It seemed many coaches communicated the same idea-"you HAVE to get out".... As many of the top and elite field got after the start and the well known first corner got the better of 30-40 runners, causing a massive pileup. Harriers scrambled and got back to their feet, some more composed than others, scrapping for position. Unlikely, but maybe next year coaches will say- "eh, take it out slow... You'll pass everyone when they go down". All joking aside, we hope all competitors are OK, and only healing emotional scars.
Frank Crippen-Ginsberg of St.Pius X won the JV Boys Race
Once harriers were to their feet, they were content to run as a large pack until around the 1k mark. Reilly Friedman, coming off of two head-turning runs (15:15 @ Great American and 14:48 @ Asics), moved to the front with the intent to make a statement-and never looked back. The race behind Reilly shaped into one of the best in CW history. The chase pack consisted of Christian Boles, Khayvonn Benson, Logan Poteet, and Frank Pittman. The next group included Stephen Martinez, Alex Murfee, Sam Costa, the Marietta trio of Henderson, Patterson, and Torres, Davis Stockwell of LS Dekalb, Jack Bluth of Milton, and Owen Bailey of Woodstock.
Khayvonn Benson has become the frontrunner in a talented pack of Marietta Blue Devils placing 3rd in 16:09
The team race was as expected up front- all about Marietta. After that, Mill Creek appeared cohesive with a solid 2-3 at the 1/2 way point. Pius had some interesting shifting in what would be a normal 1-5 lineup, but was in decent team positioning. Milton and Woodward were in good shape, and Brookwood seemed a bit back and were lacking frontman Miles Yapp. Reilley proved strong with a dominant win in 15:50. The race behind fell into the hands of Bowles as Poteet had a tough day. Benson made a late move separating from Pittman and claiming 3rd and pacing his Blue Devils to a dominating 100 point victory over second place St Pius, scoring 51 to the Lions' 151. Jack Bluth led Milton with an 8th place finish, and (finally matching up with Georgia comp) an impressive 3rd place finish with 203 points.
Reilley's comments: "I was confident coming into today, and I really wanted to put an exclamation point on the end of my season before State"
Bowles comments: "I was hoping to follow Reilly as long as possible. It got strung out, and I found myself with Poteet (and others) and started separating over the second mile. Mile 3 was just trying to hang on and finish strong. This is probably the strongest I have been this year".
Below are the performances entered for the meet that met the national silver standard.
32 National Elites. 104 Elites.