This year's Alexander Invitational looks to be a good one. We have several of the state's top runners and teams. We also have teams coming from South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The weather looks like it is going to be perfect for running Saturday so we should see some outstanding times. The meet features several ranked teams from all classifications. The girl's team race looks to be between Northview, South Forsyth, Dunwoody, Westminster, Starr's Mill, Blessed Trinity and Landmark Christian. All of these teams are ranked highly in their perspective classifications. The boy's race looks to be a competitive one as well. Whitewater, Daviess County from Kentucky, Walkertown from North Carolina, Alexander, Archer and Irmo from South Carolina look to battle for the team title.
A side note for this year's race. Last year's course was measured with a very expensive range finder and a GPS. This year's course is the same course except it has been measured with a wheel just like the previous years. It is a 5k.
Top Girls
Lindsey Billings-Northview. Arguably the state's top distance talent. She has PR's ranging from 4:50 for the 1600 to 16:56 for the 5000. She is undefeated this year and should be well rested after not being able to run at Wendy's last week.
Savannah Carnahan- South Forsyth. She has a PR of 17:24 and has run 17:41 this year. She is a recent Furman University commit.
Sue Ann Morales-East Jackson. State 3A champion in the 1600 and 800 last year as a freshmen. She has run 18:10 this year for the 5k.
Jenna Gearing-White County. Jenna has a 5k PR of 17:47 and has run 18:00 this year. She has run 5:05 for the 1600 and has a couple of track state titles under her belt.
Nicole Fegans-Landmark. Nicole has 18:15 this year and has PR's of 10:41 and 5:03 on the track.
Audrey Honiotes-Hart County. Audrey has run 18:13 this year
Kaylee DuPont-South Forsyth. South's steady number 2 has a PR of 17:38 and has run 18:19 this year.
Mary Claire Solomon-Blessed Trinity. Mary has run 18:26 this year.
Top Boys
Sam Bowie-Lagrange. Sam has PR's of 4:23 for the 1600 to 15:30 for the 5k. He has run under 16 twice this year with a top time of 15:33.
Chase Kennedy-East Jackson. One of the Kennedy twins from East Jackson. He was last year's state 3A champion in the 3200 and cross country as a sophomore.
Chandler Kennedy-East Jackson. Chandler has PR's from 1:58 in the 1500 to 15:47 in the 5k.
Sam Padula-Irmo. Sam is a first year runner for Irmo. He is a soccer player and has only run four 5ks. His first race was a 17:01 and his fourth was 15:45. He could be a surprise winner.
Geoffrey McCullough-Campbell. Geoffrey has a PR of 15:50 for the 5k and has run 4:21 for the 1600.
Colton Page-Allatoona. Colton is one of the toughest runners in the state. He is always in the mix in every race he enters. He has run 15:51 this year and has a PR of 15:34 for the 5k.
Sam Shaylor-North Cobb Christian. Sam ran 15:54 last week at Jesse Owens.
Michael Hans-Oconee. Another sub 16 5k runner. He has a 4:27 PR for the 1600 and 9:38 for the 3200.