Fans will love the new 'Land Bridge' at Bleckley instead of traversing thru the big ditch!
MS State Preview
The MS State Championship began 10 years ago with only 11 teams and 216 athletes. Since that time, it has grown exponentially (especially from 2008) when gatfxc.com covered the meet. Now, its no surprise that nearly 100 squads, almost 2100 runners (including over 50 individual entries) gather every 3rd Saturday down in Cochran, for quite a festival like atmosphere with great southern hospitality. The only thing missing is maybe a good local Country/Southern rock band playing on the awards stand, lol. There are now 3 separate divisions including:
Large School- 5A thru 7A
Medium School- 3A-4A
Small School- 1A-2A (largest race)
Each division now has its own Mixed JV race due to growth of the meet. Races begin at 8am.
Race Preview
Its difficult to gauge what teams will be top contenders, because of the many race distances MS courses in Georgia may be. The runners who have 2 Mile and maybe an XC 5K under their belt, could have an advantage on those who mainly race at 3000m and shorter tracks.
Small School Boys
This will be the largest Championship race of the day. Team contenders are hard to judge, but you can count on a few programs to be strong every year such as Holy Innocents (2015 Champs), Cornerstone Christian, Bleckley County MS, Hebron Christian, Georgia Military Prep, Darlington, George Walton and Paideia.
Individual Contenders:
Zack Truitt of Landmark Christian
Sam Tullis of Darlington
Miguel Schlict of Cornerstone Christian
Mack Howe of Wesleyan
Colin McCabe from Georgia Military
Elijah McCauley of Paideia
Vitaly Loop of Riverside Military
Small School Girls
For Small School Girls, Hebron Christian will be back to defend their 2015 title. But, will be chased hard by Holy Innocents *who won the Best Overall Program Award in 2015. Also in the team mix for those HUGE trophies could be: Cornerstone Christian, Paideia, host school Bleckley MS (who beat Medium School power Malcom Bridge on their turf), Oglethorpe County MS, George Walton and Darlington.
Individual Contenders:
Hannah Miniutti of St. Francis MS
Jennifer Woolerey of Providence Christian
Maggie Jones of Landmark Christian
Jordan Walter of Paideia
Emily Raeside of Great Strides
Hayden Puitt of Holy Innocents
Ansley Long of Trinity Christian
Zoie Marchant of Jeff Davis MS
Madelyn Davis of First Presbyterian Day
Medium School Boys
2015 Champ Westminster (ATL), put together a team days before the meet, but have chosen to not make the trip this Fall. Marist has won the title a few times and was runnerup last season. If one looks at the Virtual meet article its going to be very competitive with top contenders being: Lovett, Marist, Cartersville MS, Clear Creek MS, Malcom Bridge MS and Hart County MS.
Individual Contenders:
Al Coy of Lovett
Andrew Jones of North Hall MS
Lane Hollis from NW Whitfield
Davis Potts of Malcom Bridge
Justin Wachtel of Mary Persons
Joshua Barker of Clear Creek MS
Joe Urbanowicz of Lovett
Bill Archer from Cartersville
Jakob Dobbs of Clear Creek
Medium School Girls
Marist's low key MS program has made a tradition of swooping down to Cochran with a top 7, snatching the top awards and motoring back to ATL. Its very possible though, that with Lovett moving up in class, the War Eagles could get pushed, including Cartersville, Clear Creek MS, Hart County and Malcom Bridge.
Jewelee Love of East Jackson MS
Elle Mezzio of Sutton MS
Kelsey Morse of Malcom Bridge MS
Laura Romig of Pace
Lily Murray of Marist
Rabin Kitchin of Marist
Caroline Duncan of Malcom Bridge
Large School Boys
In 2015, Burney Harris-Lyons from Athens pulled a whopper of an upset, taking the Large School Boys team title. Top contenders per the 2 Mile (current season average time) make these schools top contenders including: Dean Rusk, Woodland Euharlee(2nd in 2015), ET Booth MS, Vickery Creek MS, Lakeside MS (Cumming), Tift MS and Burney Harris Lyons.
Tate Ellingson of ET Booth MS
Sully Shelton unattached
JD Bengston of Tift MS
Nick Trujillo of Dean Rusk MS
Graham Lee of Woodland Euharlee
Josh Macklin of Lee County MS
Evan Minor of McConnell MS
Mark Martin of Piney Grove MS
Anthony Arredondo of Chapel Hill MS
Large School Girls
It should come a no big surprise, that Woodland Euharlee has a strong program. Just take a look at their #1 ranked HS team! Woodland will be back to defend their title, but could get a challenge from several Metro area schools, including: Dean Rusk MS, ET Booth, Vickery Creek and Lakeside (Cumming)
Makena Gates of Creekview
Katelyn McLean of Vickery Creek
Caroline Pearce of ET Booth
Ryley Evans of Woodland Euharlee
Meg Lance of ET Booth
Clara Heppner of Alpha Crush
Gracie Woods of Coffee MS
Race Schedule:
8:00 a.m. 5th grade and below(1 mile)- girls and boys together
8:30 a.m. SMALL School "JV" race(girls & boys run together)
9:00 a.m. SMALL School Boys' Championship Race(Top 7)
9:30 a.m. SMALL School Girls' Championship Race(top 7)
10:00 a.m. MEDIUM School "JV" race(girls & boys run together)
10:30 a.m. MEDIUM School Boys' Championship Race(Top 7)
11:00 a.m. MEDIUM School Girls' Championship Race(Top 7)
11:30 a.m. LARGE School "JV" race(girls & boys run together)
12:00 p.m. LARGE School Boys' Championship Race(Top 7)
12:30 p.m. LARGE School Girls' Championship Race(Top 7)
Awards given out as soon as results are finalized