Class AAA Scouting Report
3A
3A Boys is now the 2nd most competitive Class in the State after last Fall's GHSA realignment. 4 'super teams' have emerged including St.Pius, Woodward Academy, North Hall and North Oconee. Region 8 is certainly the toughest to get out of into Carrollton this season. Senior Austin Sprauge of Pius has to be considered 'the man' to beat after his dominating win in 2012 including an impressive double at The GA Olympics in the 1600 and 3200 Meter races. Teamates Andrew Anastasiades and Joseph Ferrugia are also lead pack material and among the top 5 3A returners. Bryce Schuebert of North Hall will be in contention for a top slot along with Drew Sands of Woodward.
Teams
St.Pius has an very experienced senior laden squad and could do something special having only graduated Calvin Tirrell who is now at Tech.With a 3-headed monster like Sprague, Anastasiades and Ferrugia (something Coach McClay had experience w/ at Dacula back in the day) the Lions should roar to another title. And their 4-10 guys should pick up any slack in between and in 2014 be ready for a possible move to 4A...and push Marist...
Woodward Academy (home of 'Peanut Boy' for those who've seen 'Trouble With The Curve") gave Pius some good competition last Fall and held off North Hall by 3 points for team runnerup. Sands is definitely their top harrier coming in w/ a pr of 15:49 with a strong supporting cast including River Holifield and Alex Murfee. Frank Crippen-Ginsberg (frosh) has transferred in from Holy Spirit Prep and reports are he could be a beast later this season.
North Hall's program came to prominence with the formation of the legendary 'Freight Train of Pain' led by Bert Harrison that dethroned Westminster back in 2006. Since that time, the Trojans have been consistently good near the top of the charts. A solid nucleas returns including Schuebert, Zack Hill, Seth Chapman, Bailey Pless and Quintin Miles (all having sub 17 prs)
North Oconee trained hard and were careful this Summer to be injury free and I would look for them to begin running well in October as Brady Sigler is now an asst.coach Thomas Moore looked extremely strong in the Athens Summer Series (almost 4K, lol) and ran away from some good runners in winning by :40 Coleman Thornton returns after placing 11th at State in 2012, as well as Tyler Jones who was 20th. Harper Sigler should be race ready in a few weeks. Anthony Potts was superb in MS and it remains to see how well he does in 5Ks.
Blessed Trinity is another to look out for. They have a 2nd year coach who knows his stuff, and he’s getting the kids motivated as well. The Titans ran extremely well at Carrollton even sniffing at a 3rd place finish and trounced a very young North Oconee squad. They graduated their 2-4 runners, but with Matt Munns back and wealth of young runners including Alex Kramb and Chase Buran they should be in contention for a Podium spot again.
Chapel Hill , wow it still seems strange they are 3A. Will be aiming to improve upon their 8th place finish in 2012 and will be other contender for some hardware. They have an established running tradition and good coaching. Cameron Lord and Paul McCloud (McCloud had a good Summer Track season) are the catalysts to their success.
Oconee County has a long successful tradition beginning back in the early 90's. OC graduated their top 2 runners, but return Marshall Reed and Issac Krumm. They will welcome Cullen Goss to the fold as the 16-year-old Oconee County senior finished 29th in the junior division last weekend at the USA Triathlon Youth and Junior Elite National Championships in West Chester, Ohio, while setting a personal record in the 5k. He ran that leg of the race in 17:57, the first time he broke the 18-minute mark, and did so following the 750-meter swim and 20k bike race
Some other schools looking to crack the Rankings and Top 10 at state will be Hart County behind the duo of Losha and Sasha Howard both with low 17 prs. East Jackson has a star in junior Noah Hulett as he had a good Summer of training. Rockmart, West Hall, Morgan County, Washington County and Buford are not to be overlooked.
Girls
Last Fall AAA had 7 Girls teams that were very competitive across the board in any class. St.Pius got the best of Blessed Trinity, their friendly Catholic rivals in 2012, but the tables may get turned this season. White County has come a long way in Cross Country the past 3 years and look to only get better. North Oconee, Woodward Academy and Chapel Hill all have solid programs and talent. White County's Jenna Gearing as a freshman hammered the field at State winning by :46 Can she avoid a sophomore dropoff that we see happen so often for girls in Ga? Blessed Trinity has a strong duo that's always in the lead pack in Anna Gandolfo and Bailey Willett. Margaret Crawford from Pius placed 3rd at State in 2012 and should be right with them. Junior Makayla Ellis of North Hall had one of her best races last season in Carrollton placing 6th.
St.Pius graduated 3 top 7 runners including Devon Dabney. But return mucho talent in Crawford, Katie Glenn and Emma Jayne Braxton amongst others and scored incredibly high on the 'Composite' chart with zero weaknesses. It will be interesting to watch them grow this season attempting to Repeat.
Blessed Trinity has a strong program that has really taken off since they clipped Westminster's heels a few years ago...Like all the Metro Private schools, they have great coaching and student participation which is key along with a winning attitude. Having a duo back the likes of Gandolfo and Willett is being blessed..but then with Helen Marchuk, Mary Claire Solomon and Katie McConnell also returning, spells trouble for St.Pius.
White County has came a long way in just the couple or so years enthisiastic young Coach Sam Borg made the move from West Hall. It also helps having an ace in your hand like defending AAA Champ Jenna Gearing. Also their top 5 has just one senior this year which bodes well for the future including all-state performer Kristen Mitchell. They are in a decent region (7A) but should come out just fine.
North Oconee had a nice state meet in 2012 finishing 6th and if not for former UGA Coach Jeff Pigg moving on to North Florida U, it could have been better (Olivia Pigg) But, the Lady Titans didn't seem to matter behind the duo of now sophomore Rachel Sigler and seniors Dorie Faber and Emily Measel. Also the Titans may get a boost from a new frosh or two.
Woodward placed 4th last Fall and their prospects for a repeat trip onto the Podium look very promising. They return at least 4 of their top 7 runners including their #1 from State in Meagan Ward. 2 other girls back have better prs in Lexi Hecht and Rachel Ward. Woodward actually ranked 3rd on the composite chart which takes many factors into account including 1600/3200 times from Spring Track season.
Chapel Hill will have to hustle to keep up with the schools above after losing Ashton Lord to graduation, but hope is there with returning top runners like Darby Demarest, Kaneisha Mixon and Eyonnti Edwards. Plus, Chapel Hill runs in many large invitationals which should help their younger girls gain some experience.
A slew of squads from Regions 7/8 could be very competitive looking to make some noise and get on the Podium, like North Hall who placed 5th last season but graduated their star Victoria Rogers. Jackson County, Buford, East Jackson, Oconee County and watch out for Hart County, as Audrey Honiotes is now a frosh after a successful MS campaign