Check out the top male distance runners so far from the Class of 2018!
Atlanta Track Club’s inaugural Wingfoot XC Classic will be held on Saturday, September 26 at Sam Smith Park in Cartersville. In its first year the event is drawing top talent from across the state of Georgia and beyond.
Marist girls look solid and jump the 6A schools this week after their performance on their home course. Milton travels up to VA to earn their 4th place ranking averaging 19:37. 2nd place West Forsyth through 8th place Lovett is very close. Northview once full strength will jump back up the board now that Sarika is back.
Pius jumps Marist with their #2, #3, and #5 running faster times at Carrollton than Marist's Double Dip. Marietta saw the return of Benson, but had two more out. Once they all race there should be no doubt that they will be the strongest team in the state. Not penalizing for missing a runner or two because of ACT's, Forsyth Central stays in the top 10 for this week.
Landmark Christian may drop out of #1 if they fail to mount a team score for this weekend..as Hebron ran well at Carrollton going 22:10. Athens Academy solidified their #3 spot after a 3rd place in Winder. Atlanta International (AIS) shoots up the board to after a 23:28 @ Furman. Paideia, Savannah Christian were off.
Nice little meet held in Central Georgia at Stratford Academy Tuesday. Great fans and Stratford's staff were very gracious.
For the 4th year in a row, Milton High School will host the Fulton County Schools Cross Country Championships on one of the state’s toughest cross country courses, this Saturday, 7:45am.
No real drastic movement in A Private Boys from last week. Landmark continues whipping other competitive squads. Providence moves past Athens Academy to 4th after their Ortho race. North Cobb Christian had a better race at Double Dip cracking the top 10.
We saw Westminster's Girls for the first time at Carrollton this week and they look poised for a title run as well. Blessed Trinity and Westminster will again be watching one another all season (especially Girls) and attempt to peak at the right time to take a state title. Big movers of the week are Morgan's girls moving up to 5th. Experienced XC stat guys and girls here in the state understand the difficulty of courses like Carrollton and Double Dip, so rankings are definitely taking course ratings into consideration.
We saw Westminster for the first time at Carrollton this week and they look poised for a title shot. Blessed Trinity and Westminster will again be watching one another all season and attempt to peak at the right time to take a state title. Big movers of the week are Jefferson's boys climbing up to the 4th spot. Experienced XC stat guys and girls here in the state understand the difficulty of courses like Carrollton and Double Dip so rankings are definitely taking course ratings into consideration.
Grady and Sandy Creek enter the rankings this week after good showings at Double Dip...Marist and St. Pius won the Championship race at Coach Benson and Carrollton. Whitewater and North Oconee ran partial squads last Saturday. Teams 8-10 were off.
Lovett was a strong 5th at Coach Benson, only 4 points behind 5A #1 Dunwoody, making the gap even wider over..... #2 Wesleyan who moved up to 2nd leap frogging Darlington. Pace moved up 2 spots after a better race at Carrollton. A Gulf separates the top 5 from the back 5 teams, many who were OFF/rained out.
Used some of the conversions from Dataholic to help figure out difference between Ortho, Double Dip, and Covered Bridge. Very tight between Pace and Wesleyan. Bleckley County ran a faster course at the smaller Bay Invitational (FL) and won 1st (17:31) No movement from 1-9....Model breaks into the Top 10 after Rome meet.
A lot of AAAA girls teams ran on the tough Double Dip course. Most of those AAAA teams there ran real well but Marist's 2nd place finish was very impressive and Woodward showed a lot of improvement this week. Chamblee enters the rankings this week for the first time since the days of Emily Reese.
Dunwoody has a hold on #1 after perhaps their strongest race of the Fall at Coach Benson placing 5th Overall in a strong field. Flowery Branch was the top 5A squad at Carrollton. #3 Union Grove was off as well as #7 Northgate. Rome burst into the top 10...
Carrollton Orthopedic also will have a big influence on 5A Boys Tram Rankings. Many squads ran head to head, but a few wee not running full strength as noted. Alexander had the best race of the day at Coach Benson taking a slim #1 over Flowery Branch who had the same team average at Carrollton. Clarkston moved up the ladder running very well at what may be the Angoras favorite course (Carrollton) Upstart North Atlanta join the top 10 this week after a 17:57 at Run at the Rock in Cartersville.
6A Girls was very similar to the Boys as carrollton and Double Dip had a heavy influence on this week's team rankings. West Forsyth had a solid win at Ortho, Milton traveled well to Knights Crossing taking 2nd. There was no movement from 5-10 and the 'Watch list changed a bit with Alpharetta now on the 'Radar'
Milton sits atop the 6A Boys Rankings after their 2nd place finish at Knights Crossing up in Virginia without Jack Bluth and their #4. Carrollton Orthopedic and Coach Benson DD easily helped sort out the Weekly Rankings with top teams going head to head. Mill Creek was 2nd at Carrollton without Sam Costa (ACT) Brookwood ran their JV, Peachtree Ridge was off. Grayson had a good race winning Covered Bridge. Everyone should be full strength at the Gwinnett County (onsite coverage) and Fulton County Championships next Saturday
Over 1400 runners gathered at the State Course on Saturday having great mid-September racing conditions in very uncrowded race situations for this venue. (excluding Championship Boys) Anticipation was high for those races with many top squads and Indivduals competing.
Brief ReCap (more coming Monday)
UNG Cross Country Finishes Fourth In Large Field At Furman Invitational (via University of North Georgia)
Who are the best female distance runners in the Class of 2018? Check out the slideshow!
This is 'Must Watch' video from Coach Benson Double Dip submitted by Kevin Lisle from Marist. Great music and editing! Everyone please Enjoy....
Marist Boys and Winter Park Girls Dominate at Coach Benson Double Dip..Pittman & Billings Untouchable..
Milton High School travels to Salem, VA to take on some top-US programs and finish with many team awards (via Alpharetta-Milton, Georgia Patch)
Fifteen teams tested out the new Covered Bridge layout at Garrard Landing Park Saturday with Grayson’s boys’ team and Alpharetta’s girl’s teams finishing on top. The new course provided great spectator viewing and a far better two loop course for the competition. The weather made for the most enjoyable racing conditions so far this season.
Here are a few galleries containing 500 photos from the competitive Whitefield Middle School Time Trials from David Heaberlin.
Here is a huge photo gallery from Ga.MileSplit's 'Feature' Meet of the Week (Coach Benson Double Dip) from Matt Almand.
Watch the first-ever MileSplit music video to get hype for the new ASICS Future Stars series!
This preview of the Carrollton Invitational is a bit vague as its hard to examine the purpose Coaches have in mind for running in this meet on the State Course so early.
Here is a 'Virtual Meet' for all the Girls teams competing at the Carrollton Ortho Invitational. Mill Creek is running their JV and St.Pius and Brookwood are not coming.