Reebook Coach Wood Meet Preview
On Saturday, 10/20 at Gainesville College, many of the top ranked teams in Georgia will go head to head at the 5th Annual Coach Wood Invitational. This year’s field is the best ever, so it should be a great day. The meet was started by Coaches Andy Christie of Dacula, Daniel Monroe of Mill Creek, and former Parkview Coach Josh Crowfoot, all who ran under Wood at South Gwinnett. Coach Wood was and still is a big influence in the lives of the boys he coached. Wood coached at South Gwinnett from 1987-2000, where he coached the AAAA 1992 State Championship team, and also coached standout runner Josh Crowfoot, who ran 9:13 and 4:17 as well as 15:06 to qualify for Foot Locker Nationals. Coach Wood now teaches at Grayson High School, where his daughters Anna and Allison run cross country. He was also a standout runner himself, capturing a State Title in the 3200 in Tennessee, with a 3200 p.r. of 9:19.
In attendance at this year’s meet will be Jorge Torres, Reebok sponsored Athlete, who ran for Colorado. Torres has a 5k p.r. of 13:24, and won the 2002 NCAA XC title. As a high school runner, he qualified for Foot Locker Nationals all 4 years. He will also be at Runner’s Fit in Braselton on Friday, 10/19 from 6-8pm to sign autographs.
In the Championship Girls race, 7 of the top 10 AAAAA squads will face off, along with top talent from other classifications. Collins Hill, Parkview, North Gwinnett, Etowah, Brookwood, Peachtree Ridge, Roswell will all race, as will AAA teams Blessed Trinity and North Hall, and AA team Pace Academy, The Individual race should be exciting as well, as Collins Hill standout Amanda Winslow will line up against Lindsay Ebert (Parkview), Nicole Dimercurio (North Gwinnett), Abby Self (Grayson), and Sara Curry (Peachtree Ridge) also nationally ranked Emily Reese of Chamblee will be competing in this great field.
In the Championship Boys race, Lassiter, Brookwood, Collins Hill, South Forsyth, Peachtree Ridge, and Etowah are the top teams from AAAAA. Dacula represents AAAA, along with Blessed Trinity, West Hall, and Oconee for AAA, and Pace and Creekview for AA. Individually, this could be the most exciting race of the day. Sophomore sensation Charlie Sparks of Columbus will square off against some of the top runners in the state in Zach Flickinger (Lassiter), Rob Manning, Philip O’ Brien (Collins Hill), Colin Conroy (Mill Creek), Miles Svoboda (Pope), JP Hackney (Kell), and Jarryd Wallace (Oconee).
In the Varsity Girls race, Centennial (AAAAA), Woodward, Alexander, Lakeside (AAAA), West Forsyth (AAA), and GAC and North Oconee (AA) will duke it out against each other. Sydney Marshall of Chattahoochee and Katie June of Centennial should contend for the individual title. In the Varsity Boys race, Alexander and Lakeside are the top AAAA schools, while North Oconee and GAC represent AA. Matt Clay of Alexander is the favorite for the individual title.
Hope to see you out there this Saturday!
Race Schedule:
8:00 Girls Championship Race
8:40 Boys Championship Race
9:20 Girls JV-A Race
10:00 Boys JV-A Race
10:40 Girls Varsity Race
11:20 Boys Varsity Race
12:00 Girls JV-B Race
12:40 Boys JV-B Race
1:20 Open Boys and Girls Race