1A Private GHSA Boys State Preview

A Private Boys is a down somewhat this Fall individually and in team strength, which will make for an interesting first race of the day at 7:45am. Landmark Christian is the strong team favorite, but the Individual title is up for grabs with Friedman in now at Colorado running with the Buffs'


Expect these 4 guys to be in contact 11-7 (F-R) Seth Cruver of Landmark, Max Heaberlin of Paideia, Austin Taylor of Landmark and Nasir Campbell of Paideia. (photo by Daniel McCauley)

Boys Team-

Landmark Christian has been #1 from pre-season through the Pre-State Rankings and an overwhelming favorite to be team champ. The Eagles had a 1-5 Split of :47 at 5-A with frontrunners, so as long as they stay the course they will defend their title. Its a toss up on paper between Hebron Christian and Paideia for runnerup. They went heads up at Battle of Atlanta, but Paideia was unable to mount a team score. The Lions have a better top 5, but the Pythons have a stronger top 3 up front. The final Podium spot will be hotly contested as 4 squads are within a few seconds of each other. How close...Athens Academy beat Providence Christian for 2nd on a 6th runner tiebreak in 8-A. Galloway out of 5-A should be in that mix with AIS on the outside looking in. The top 10 should be filled in by any of these squads: Mount Paran, Whitefield, Athens Christian, Brookstone or North Cobb Christian.

Boys Individual-

Sam Shaylor from North Cobb Christian (file photo by Daniel McCauley)

With Reilly Friedman of Galloway at Colorado (red-shirting his frosh year) finally after 3.5 years the race for the Individual title is up for grabs. There are 3 primary contenders, including 2 Seniors. Sam Shaylor of North Cobb Christian has the top pr from the very fast Jessie Owens Invite (AL) going 15:54) Mark Stein of Hebron Christian pr'd at Jessie Owens, winning the small school race in 16:31 and won the 8-A Overall. Soph Griffin McCauley of Paideia pr'd at Asics clocking a 15:59 and won Region 5-A going 16:29.

Mark 'Franken' Stein from Hebron Christian (file pic ga.milesplit)

After these 3 its wide open for the next few spots, beginning with the Landmark duo of Austin Taylor (16:48) and Seth Cruver (16:49) Paideia has a nice 2-3 punch with Max Heaberlin (16:50) and Nasir Campbell (17:07) Hugo Levisse of AIS ran strong at 5-A placing 5th in 17:13. Battling for the final All-State spots could be Daniel Wilson of Landmark, Noah Irwin of ACS, and Ryan Iyer & Alex Branch from Athens Academy to name a few. Below is a list of the top 25 1-A Private Boys who qualified for State.

Griffin McCauley of Paideia (photo by Daniel McCauley)

RankTimeAthlete/TeamGradeMeet DatePlace
116:29.45

GRIFFIN MCCAULEY

Paideia

2018

Region 5-A / Area 3 Private Championship1st

216:48.24

AUSTIN TAYLOR

Landmark Christian School

2016

Region 5-A / Area 3 Private Championship2nd

316:49.09

SETH CRUVER

Landmark Christian School

2017

Region 5-A / Area 3 Private Championship3rd

416:58.68

MAX HEABERLIN

Paideia

2017

Region 5-A / Area 3 Private Championship4th

517:01.70

SAM SHAYLOR

North Cobb Christian

2016

GA Area 6A Private School Cross Country Championship1st

617:13.35

HUGO LEVISSE

Atlanta International School

2019

Region 5-A / Area 3 Private Championship5th

717:22.56

NASIR CAMPBELL

Paideia

2017

Region 5-A / Area 3 Private Championship6th

817:22.92

DANIEL WILSON

Landmark Christian School

2016

Region 5-A / Area 3 Private Championship7th





917:30.15

MARK STEIN

Hebron Christian

2016

Area 2 Private Cross Country Championships1st

1017:34.26

JACK DRURY

Landmark Christian School

2019

Region 5-A / Area 3 Private Championship9th

1117:35.62

MICAH BURDETTE

Landmark Christian School

2018

Region 5-A / Area 3 Private Championship10th

1217:36.32

RYAN IYER

Athens Academy

2018

Area 2 Private Cross Country Championships2nd

1317:40.03

JENKINS WILLIAM

Brookstone

2016

GHSA Class A Private - Area 1 Cross Country Meet1st

1417:40.78

COLTON WOOSTER

Landmark Christian School

2019

Region 5-A / Area 3 Private Championship11th

1517:42.81

NOAH IRWIN

Athens Christian

2019

Area 2 Private Cross Country Championships3rd

1617:44.10

AARON EARL

Galloway

2016

Region 5-A / Area 3 Private Championship12th

1717:47.85

TUNJI AFOLABI-BROWN

Mount De Sales

2016

GHSA Class A Private - Area 1 Cross Country Meet2nd

1817:51.10

LUKE MURRAY

Galloway

2018

Region 5-A / Area 3 Private Championship13th

1917:57.15

SAMMY CLOUGH

Providence Christian Academy

2016

Area 2 Private Cross Country Championships4th

2018:02.55

AUSTIN HATCH

North Cobb Christian

2017

GA Area 6A Private School Cross Country Championship2nd

2118:03.90

MARK HUMPHRIES

Landmark Christian School

2017

Region 5-A / Area 3 Private Championship14th

2218:04.15

ALEX VAN SCHOOR

Galloway

2018

Region 5-A / Area 3 Private Championship15th

2318:07.16

ESPEN OSWALD

Mount Paran Christian School

2018

GA Area 6A Private School Cross Country Championship3rd

2418:09.50

WESLEY WARBINGTON

Hebron Christian

2017

Area 2 Private Cross Country Championships5th

2518:10.38

JOHNNIE BAEHMAN

Fellowship Christian School

2018

GA Area 6A Private School Cross Country Championship4th