ATC Weekly XC Wrap
There were tons of meets this week in Georgia, and as a 1 man band, here are some briefs about the competition, including weekend invitationals. We invite HS/MS coaches to submit summaries from their events to be posted on the homepage with cover shots as we want everyone to know how your meet went!
Georgia Highlands Classic
This turned out to be a very competitive race between NW Ga schools, especially 3A and smaller. But metro team Hillgrove broke down that awards ceremony dominating both races claiming the team championships, other than Hillgrove, the competition was quite close. Claire Warren of Hillgrove won the individual title in 20:02, followed by Rome's Jenna Tilton in 20:22 and club squad (though not sanctioned) North Cherokee Wolfpack's Hannah Sanford in 3rd at 20:32. Jaison Morning of Cass won the Boys Overall title clocking a 16:50
3rd Annual Bob Roller Invitaional
The Bob Roller meet was a fast fest on the 1 loop East Jackson course (next season the meet may be held at picturesque Lamar Murphy Park) 21 NEGA schools ate up the turf and pavement at East Jackson culminating in team titles for Tim Cumming's ACS squads. Top harriers for ACS were Gabby Cortese in 21:13 and for the guys Morgan Bishoff in 16:57. Overall champs were Max Warner of Forsyth Central in 16:21 and on the Girls side Hart County frosh Audrey Honiotes in 19:04 Macayla Hewell of Banks County had a fine race placing 2nd in 19:17 Lakeview Academy's boys may continue to creep up the 1A rankings after their 4th place effort. And, East Jackson's boys continued to improve hoping to peak at Region.
Bleckley Co. Invitational
In rarely reported results from Bleckley County, the 4A Perry boys swept the top 3 places besting host 2A Bleckley in 2nd by 31 points. Benedictine's boys finally faced some tough 2A competition, placing 3rd 46 points behind Bleckley. Jackson Reid from Perry was the boys overall champ in 16:53 Bleckley also took the Girls team title led by Ellen Powell in 3rd (who must have been having a tempo run placing 3rd in 20:44 on her home turf) Perry HS runners Abby Booth was the overall champ clocking a 20:35, with running mate Tiffany Mountin steps behind 2nd in 20:37
Sharptop Invitational
The Sharptop Invitational had a smaller field than 2012, but Pickens County won the Boys team title, while #3 ranked 3A girls Heritage-Catoosa triumphed in the Girls Varsity race placing 4 girls in the top 9 spots. Sarah Buckler was the top Heritage runner in 20:00 Alyssa Weaver of host Pickens County destroyed the field winning the overall title in 19:27 Pickens' Boys were too much for the competition placing 1st behind super-frosh Sean Parker's winning time of 17:01
Cherokee County Championship
Highly ranked 6A Etowah slayed their Cherokee County rivals easily as a warmup to the Region Championships. Etowah has become in a short time, an Cross Country powerhouse via some great coaching and talent. The Girls individual race was a real photo finish as Kingsley Green of Etowah barely outleaned Alexandra Melehan of Woodstock for the overall win in 19:23 Owen Bailey from Woodstock claimed the individual county title clocking a sweet 16:08 Christopher Costa from Sequoyah placed 2nd in 16:12. Leading Etowah's team win was soph Sam Donley placing 4th in 16:41
Hall County Championships
The now prestigous Hall County Championships was a North Hall Boys party as they almost perfect scored their county rivals amassing a grand total of 16 points bringing back memories of the 2006 'Freight Train of Pain Squad' that dethroned Westminster. Bryce Schuebert of North Hall was again stingy, not giving an inch to teamates claiming the win in 16:38 Chestatee's gals lived up to their Week 6 ranking claiming the 2-5 positions winning the team title by 12 points over North Hall. Sara Beth English led Chestatee to the County title placing 2nd in 21:09 Mackayla Ellis from North Hall was the Girls overall champ posting a 20:24