Coach Wood Meet Preview
Championship Girls:
Teams:
Brookwood (#2 All Class and AAAAA), Peachtree Ridge (#4 All Class, #3 AAAAA), Walton (#5 All Class, #4 AAAAA), Marist (#8 All Class, #2 AAAA), Flowery Branch (#6 AAAA), Lakeside Evans ( #3 AAAA), North Gwinnett (#9 AAAAA), Parkview (#10 AAAAA), Roswell (#7 AAAAA), South Forsyth (#10 AAAA), St Pius (#2 AAA), Woodstock (#9 All Class, #6 AAAAA)
Brookwood on paper would appear to be the strong favorite, but Walton surprised everyone at State last year, and looks to keep surging to defend their State Title. Peachtree Ridge looks to be in the mix. Roswell, North Gwinnett , Woodstock, Parkview and Marist are also in either the All Class or AAAAA rankings and look to make their mark against higher ranked teams. St. Pius and Lakeside Evans are ranked near the top of their classes, and should be highly competitive with the talented field. We also are pleased to welcome Creekside H.S. from Florida, who is ranked 3rd in AAA and 5th overall in the Sunshine State.
Individuals:
Individuals: Sarah Bowles, Lakeside Evans; Caroline Kissel, QuanDra Shanks, Brookwood; Chloe Whitworth, Collins Hill; Alexa Womack, Emily Bridges, Walton; Katherine Yost, Norcross; Lauren Kelly, Peachtree Ridge
Delpesche and Bowles just recently blazed the courses at Westover and Asics respectively, so they will be ready to go against a stacked individual field. The Brookwood duo of Kissel and Shanks will be looking to help their team defend their Coach Wood title from last year. A showdown of Region-7AAAAA top contenders will happen, as Whitworth, Yost, and Kelly go head to head again. Add in Womack and Bridges from Walton, and Ilse from Marist, and it should be a steady stream of quality runners crossing the line.
Championship Boys:
Teams:
Brookwood (#1 All Class and AAAAA), Walton (#2 All Class and AAAAA), Lakeside Evans (#3 All Class, #1 AAAA), Peachtree Ridge (#4 All Class, #3 in AAAAA) St. Pius (#5 All Class, #1 AAA) , Mill Creek (#6 All Class, #4 AAAAA), Norcross (#7 All Class, #5 in AAAAA), Marietta (#7 AAAAA), Collins Hill (#8 AAAAA), Marist (#2 AAAA), Greenbrier (#6 AAAA), South Forsyth (#10 AAAA)
This year’s meet looks to be the most stacked ever, with quality competition from all classifications. 8 of the 10 All Class teams will be in this race, making this the closest we’ll get to a Meet of Champions. Leading the pack will of course be Brookwood, who have dominated every race they have run in the state this year. After that is a group that should be close together: from AAA, defending State Champions St. Pius will face off against bigger schools for the last time this season. In AAAA, Lakeside Evans will look to continue their mid season surge and Marist will look to give them a good race before state. From AAAAA, #2 ranked Walton will look to close the gap to Brookwood. Peachtree Ridge, Mill Creek, and Norcross will square off for the last time before Region. Overall, This looks to be a preview of the State Meet with many schools that hope to make it onto the podium come November 5th.
Individuals:
Josh Brickell, Peachtree Ridge; Sid Vaughan, Lakeside Evans, Hunter Honeycutt, Tift County; Morgan Malanoski, Kevin Marsh, Gabe Gomez, Brookwood; Christopher Wilder, Greenbrier; Preston Jones, Columbus; Austin Sprague, Calvin Tirrell, St. Pius; Brian Sullivan, Walton, Patrick Fleming, Pope
The impressive fields boasts over 20 boys who have gone sub-16 this season. Josh Brickell has been in a class by himself this season, and looks to torch the course at Gainesville. Brookwood has 4 sub 16 runners in Malanoski, Marsh, Gomez, and McClintock. Fleming, Vaughan, Wilder, and Jones will get to line up against runners they normally don’t get to race, which should be interesting. Sprague, Tirrell, and Sullivan have all run in the 15:40’s/15:50’s and look to help their teams be in the hunt for a trophy.
Varsity Girls:
Teams:
Allatoona (#1 AAA), Blessed Trinity (#2 AA), Darlington (#1 A), Holy Innocents (#9 A), Johns Creek (#8 AAAA), Lakeside Dekalb (#6 All Class, #1 AAAA), Lovett (#3 AA), Milton (#7 All Class, #5 AAAAA), Pope, #7 AAAA), Riverwood (#9 AAA)
Lakeside Dekalb and Milton should headline here, with Milton coming off a strong showing in Florida last weekend. Lakeside Dekalb should be fresh after a week off. Allatoona has been at or near the top of the AAA rankings all year, while Blessed Trinity and Lovett (two likely podium teams in a month) will square off in a good AA matchup.
Individuals:
Molly Schenck, Pope; Allie Buchalski, Johns Creek; Meghan Wetterhall, Hayley Keadey, Lakeside Dekalb; Hailey Branch, Lovett; Annie Kelly, Milton; Lilly Kidane, East Paulding, Leanne Zimmer, Lambert; Bailey Willett, Natalie Kile, Blessed Trinity
5 of the unofficial Top-25 girls will line-up…..Allie Buchalski of Johns Creek is arguably one of the favorites coming off a quick 18:10 2nd place finish last week as Asics. Annie Kelly of Milton seemed to find another gear last weekend in Florida, while Molly Schenck is also a member of the elusive and elite sub-19 group with an 18:59 at Berry. Leanne Zimmer of Lambert and Hailey Branch of Lovett have also run very well so far this season.
Varsity Boys:
Teams:
Allatoona (#6 AAA), Blessed Trinity (#2 AA), Darlington (#4 A), Lakeside Dekalb (#8 AAAA), Lovett (#3 AA), Milton, #8 AAAAA), Pope (#3 AAAA), Riverwood (#4 AAA)
Pope will be without Fleming, who is running up in the Championship race, but they have strong runners behind him who should be able to carry the team. Milton has been a long time attendee of the meet and looks to take home yet another Coach Wood trophy for their trophy case. Blessed Trinity and Lovett look to duke it out before State one last time, with the victor hoping they have momentum going into Carrollton. Darlington is coming to the meet for the first time and hopes to have a good showing. Remember that Riverwood took down a highly-ranked Milton squad at the Fulton County Championships….they will also be in the hunt for the title here.
Individuals:
Kyle Rose, Pope; Jesse Baker, Darlington; Parker Sorenson, East Paulding; Nathan Reich, Kegan Baird, Ryan Kelly, Milton, Kane Davis, Centennial, Chance Eldredge, Chapel Hill
This race looks to be wide open with no clear cut favorite. Darlington’s Jesse Baker ran a quick 15:50 at Asics last week, while Nathan Reich of Milton ran very strong at the Bobcat Classic. Parker Sorenson of East Paulding also slipped under 16:00 last week at Asics with his hands in the air. Chance Eldredge of Chapel Hill has been gathering steam as the season progresses, while Kane Davis of Centennial has posted some solidly consistent marks this year.
