It was a great day of racing as a Rainbow greeted everyone in the western sky over Nash Farms Battlefield just after sunrise...As the morning progressed it got a little breezy with a gust catching the Timers tent toppling it upside down as thunderstorms drew in. In all, 1450 runners crossed the finish line with the largest crowd in meet history on hand cheering on all the athletes. Marietta easily won the Boys team title as Marist rested their Varsity and St.Pius X boys were at the Hare n' Hounds at McAlpine Park, NC (home of the Foot Locker South Regional) Bolles HS made the trip up from Jacksonville and claimed the girls team title. Kathryn Foreman and lil' sister Sarah of Landmark Christian won the Individual races. Hakeem Mustafaa of Shaw impressively won the Boys Overall. Meet Director Coach Claude Spinks of Eagle's Landing put on a great festive event and commented, "Just glad the weather held off. Great day for everyone today. I think the changes to the course were positive."
Shaw's Hakeem Mustafaa digs in on the way to winning the Boys Overall Title
Varsity Boys
The day began with the Boys Varisty race as 285 runners tackled the Nash course and Hakeem Mustafaa of Shaw HS (Columbus) ran to perhaps his best win of his HS career clocking a 16:11 holding of Jacksonville Bolles' Austin Decker for a :03 margin of victory. Mustafaa was recognized in pre-season outlooks as one of the best 4A runners with a realistic shot at defeating the Marist duo of Navarro and Thurston at State and he proved it at Nash Farms. About his race, Hakeem commented, "Outside of having a bad start, I think the race went pretty well and the course was well put together and a great way to prepare for state." Frosh Dax Willette of Rockdale County was the top frosh in the race placing 3rd in 16:25 Willette is truly in his first season ever of running XC and has the makings of a great runner. Marietta's boys put on an absolute clinic of how to pack run crushing the field capturing the 11-13, 15-16 spots with an amazing 1-5 :06 Split! Khayvon Benson crossed in 16:55 followed by Carlos Torres, Alex Dawson, Ben Patterson and Tim O'Connell. Were they doing a 'tempo run'? If so it was a very fast one...Whitewater placed 2nd led by their top runner transfer Jon Raville placing 7th in 16:39. It was very competitive for the next 4 team spots as 19 points separated 4 squads, but 4A Lagrange came out of the scrum 3rd with 160 points led by their power duo of Sam Bowie and Andrew Coggins taking the 6th/8th spots. Lakeside-Evans took 4th in a 6th runner tie-break over Wheeler with Union Grove a mear point behind.
JV Boys
Marist's JV B? boys squad decimated the large field of 334 runners scoring a meager 22 points, sweeping the top 3 places as Max Demacedo (pictured above) won the overall title in 18:29 followed by runningmates Austin Bunker and Charlie Daniel as both clocked 18:43
Landmark's Kathryn Foreman ran strong again notching another Individual title
Varsity Girls
Kathryn Foreman ran like a finely tuned machine once again adding another individual title to her resume holding off Mackenzie Wilson of Bolles for the win. Foreman's 18:40 is a course record. She broke Anna Bowles old record by 7 seconds and is only the 2nd girl to go sub 19 on that course! Some of the Landmark Christian faithful may have been anticipating a showdown of Foreman and Morgan Ilse of Marist, but Coach Heintze gave his Varsity squads this Saturday off. Foreman talked about her race "I thought the race went really well today. I ran a little slower than I expected, but I was excited about breaking the course record that I watched Anna Bowles set in 2010! The course almost seemed harder than the impossible state course at Carrollton, but I really like training and racing on hills. I was so glad my teammates were able to do so well, especially freshman Nicole Fegans, who has been an amazing contributor to our team in the races and with her positive attitude! I am thankful for my coaches: Coach Thorn, Coach Thompson and Coach Cawood, who help to motivate me everyday with personal coaching. They also keep me focused on the ultimate goal: to honor and glorify Jesus Christ while doing whatever I do! Overall it was a great race day!"
Bolles' girls squad wasn't leaving Georgia without pilfering some bounty as they cruised to the Varsity Girls team title scoring 51 points placing 3 runners in the top 8 spots led by Mackenzie Wilson's runnerup finish in 19:06 with teamate Ally Hajda taking 3rd in 19:20 3A powerhouse St. Pius X girls were tops for the in-state schools taking 2nd place team honors at Nash as Rebecca Entrekin was the top Lion placing 9th in 19:54 This race should leap frog St.Pius X back on top of the 3A Rankings this Tuesday. The racing was very intense for the next 4 team places as 21 points separated them with Marietta a little better Saturday placing 3rd by 4 points #1 3A Blessed Trinity. Lakeside-Evans made the long trek from Augusta (and after a quick scoring revision) to take 5th besting 2nd ranked 2A Lovett. Rounding out the top 5 individuals were Mary Jean Assinzo of Marietta placing 4th in 19:35 and Landmark frosh Nicole Fegans turning in a 19:46
JV Girls
Sarah Foreman (pictured above) just ran away from everyone winning in 20:36. Foreman seems to really excel at the 5K distance. When asked about her race Sarah allowed, "The Nash Farms course is one of my favorite courses! One of my first races ever was Battle of Atlanta in 2010. The first two miles of the race felt great! I felt slightly worn out from the hills during the last mile, but felt strong on the finish. I'm very proud of my teammates, Mary Kellison Thorne and Lindsey Biggar! We can't wait to contribute to the Varsity team next year!"
Teamates Mary Thorne and Lindsey Biggar took 2nd and 3rd place. Bolles HS also walked off the property taking the JV Girls team honors placing 5 gals in the top 11. 7th grader Maeve O'Riordan and Morgan Ashurian paced Bolles placing 4th and 5th respectively. Top Ga squad in JV Girls was none other than St.Pius X scoring 77 points. Landmark Christian actually took the top 3 spots led by 8th grader
George Finch of the Gratis Distance Project pushes it down the stretch
MS Boys
In perhaps one of the largest MS races of the season George Finch of the Gratis Distance Project ran very strong flying across the finish line for the win clocking a 10:03.68 Many may not be aware, but George is the brother of the late Brandon Griffin who was quite a runner himself in HS. Tanner Reid of Perry MS showed he will be at contender at the Georgia Middle School State Meet in Cochran placing 2nd in 10:09 Club team Kennesaw Mountain Jr. Mustangs seized the team honors placing 2 runners in the top 10 including Noah Martin (7th), Will Bullock (9th)
MS Girls
In the final race of the day the runners were greeted by light rain and wind as the sky west and south began to grow ominous. However it did not deter Sophia West of Paideia (pictured above) cruised to victory clocking an 11:17. An unknown Decatur girl was 2nd but unable to be id'd due to wearing a male's bib. 7th grader Carson Hillis from Perry MS placed 3rd in 11:59 Lovett won the team honors with 44 points taking up team positions 4-7. Leading the Lions' efforts was Haley Hooper placing 5th overall.