On Saturday, 22 Gwinnett teams gathered for the Gwinnett County Championships. Opening conditions were cool and overcast, perfect for racing. The first shot of the day went off at 8:00 to kick of the varsity girls race. Later the weather deteriorated around 10:30am as a heavy downpour drenched the JV division 1 boys and later races sparking memories of the deluge a few years back when flooding created an actual creek had to to traversed in at least foot deep muddy rushing water. Brookwood won 'Round 2' of the battle of the best Girls teams in Georgia All-Classes besting The Ridge this time by 2 points. Peachtree Ridge Boys and Brookwood had their own melee as well with the Lions coming out victorious by 7 points. Kevin Mills continued to shine pasting the field after the mile mark and Tayler Tuttle impressively won the Girls overall title.
Varsity Girls Recap
Brookwood's Girls defended their title winning their 3rd consecutive County Championship & 4th in the last 5 years getting some payback against Peachtree Ridge from Carrollton Orthopaedic last week avenging a 1 point loss, in a just as intense 2 point win at River Green Parkway. 2 large class teams may never have been as evenly matched as these squads are.. Peachtree Ridge's girls stayed true to form & went out aggressive...However, Brookwood made up some crucial points with their (4,5) runners who bested Ridge's (4,5) by 5 points. Bucking the Broncos efforts were Lauren Brennan placing 4th in 19:01 and Laurel Sumner in 6th at 19:09 A pair of freshman also helped impact the Broncos performance including Mackenzie Ellison and Lauren Flynt hinting that Brookwood could get much better by State... Peachtree Ridge was led by their star Addie Lippitt who was 2nd overall in 18:51 with teamate Laurel Wilson 7th in 19:11 Collins Hill continued to show signs of resurgence placing 3rd in the team battle with a 20:09 team average led by an 11th place finish by Mariah Maring. 2A State Champs Wesleyan, for some reason overlooked just like they were last year, snagged the last trophy finishing fourth. Caroline Reed was in the hunt up front for the Wolves finishing in 5th overall at 19:02
Tayler Tuttle of Providence Christian wins the Girls Overall Title Image by Pinion Photography
In the chase for the Overall Individual title Tayler Tuttle (pictured above) of 1A Private Providence Christian put the race away from the gun, going out aggressive & pulling the field along with her before shortly running away from the field. At the mile marker she split a 5:42, three seconds ahead of 3rd place overall Mill Creek's Lauren Hovis (18:59) and nine seconds in front of Lippitt. Tuttle may just be warming up for what could be a showdown come November against Battle of Atlanta champ Kathryn Foreman. Rounding out the top 10 not mentioned above were Hannah Lopez of Mill Creek in 8th, Emily Swanigan of Providence in 9th and Courtney Czerniak of North Gwinnett.
Kevin Mills of Peachtree Ridge has his sights set on a title Image by Pinion Photography
Varsity Boys Recap
Kevin Mills of Peachtree Ridge, Daniel Ellis of Collins Hill, Tyler Woodrome of Mill Creek, Shiloh's tough duo of Nahom Solomon and Bryan Kamau, along with Eric Westog of Mill Creek strung out an early lead with a chase pack made up largely of Brookwood and Peachtree Ridge runners in tow. Mills got lonely quickly after five minutes... After a fast first mile split of 4:56 with Collins Hill's Ellis hanging around, Mills broke bad and was untouchable, winning in a 15:37. Tyler Woodrome was 2nd in a 15:55 his first time going sub sixteen minutes. Rounding out the top 10 individuals were Kamau of Shiloh placing 3rd in 16:09, Ellis in 4th (16:10), Miles Yapp of Brookwood in 5th (16:14), Solomon of Shiloh (16:16), Issac Penmon of Peachtree Ridge (16:16), Nic Schofer of Parkview (16:22), Chris O'Brien of Brookwood (16:27) and Evan Beck of Peachtree Ridge (16:30)
As for the team race, It was clear early that Mill Creek was not going to be a factor, having an off day along with Sam Costa recovering from an appendectomy. Leaving matters down to a Brookwood and Peachtree Ridge hoedown which didn't disapoint.. Peachtree Ridge won the team title by only 7 points over Brookwood sparked by Mills' overall win. The Lions also got top 10 finishes from Penman in 7th and Beck in 10th as well as 11th by Nathan Reichard. Brookwood's pack ran smart, actually putting 6 in front of Peachtree Ridge's #5, but the Lions #3,4 surged just ahead of Brookwood's 3-5 sealing the County Championship. Collins Hill finished third with the help of top runner Daniel Ellis taking fourth in a quick 16:10. Yapp led Brookwood finishing right on his heels in 16:14. Mill Creek faded to fourth today, but look for the Hawks to recharge in time for the Fleet Feet Coach Wood Classic on 10-19. Contributions by Cameron Roy