Week 1 GA HS Cross Country Notebook

Week 1 ending 8/18 may have had the most invitationals of any season in XC history as 17 meets posted results and MileSplit GA began coverage a week earlier than in the past. This coming weekend has some big time meets on tap, including the Saucony Battle of Atlanta, North GA Championships and Bob Blastow Early Bird. But, what did we see in Week 1 as indicators of what's to come this Fall. 

7A- Defending champ South Forsyth is once again going to be a force to be reckoned with after their dual meet vs Lambert. Brookwood, Parkview and Mill Creek ran well at the Hoya 2 Mile Invitational. Marietta ran without Kamari Miller, but freshman Jared Fortenberry had a great HS debut turning in a 10:06. Tops in the 2 Mile were:

Two Mile Run

RANK	TIME	ATHLETE/TEAM	GRADE	MEET DATE PLACE
1	9:55.51	Chris Cherono Grayson High School	2020	Hoya 2 Mile Invitational 1st Aug 17, 2019
2	10:03.70	Tristan Autry Parkview High School	2020	Hoya 2 Mile Invitational 4th Aug 17, 2019
3	10:06.50	Jared Fortenberry Marietta High School	2023	Hoya 2 Mile Invitational 6th Aug 17, 2019
4	10:06.81	Luke McNeil Brookwood	2020	Hoya 2 Mile Invitational 8th Aug 17, 2019
5	10:07.22	Will Bray Brookwood	2021	Hoya 2 Mile Invitational 9th Aug 17, 2019

 

On the girls side, South Forsyth came out strong at the Lambert dual, Hillgrove had a great outing at Battle of the Fairways, and Parkview & Marietta also raced well at Hoya 2 Mile. This coming weekend should begin reveal much more insight. Madelynne Cadeau of South Forsyth came out swinging at the Lambert Dual posting a 18:39. June Mwaniki of Marietta was the top 7A 2 Miler at the Hoya Invitational posting a 12:12 

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6A Boys- Harrison came out and quickly put the Hoyas' on the radar as a contender for a State title by winning the Hoya 2 Mile, and they did it without 2 of the their top runners including Sully Shelton. Kaden McVey, Matthew Wyman and Noah Connelly all went sub 10:07 Pope finished a strong 2nd at the Pickens Preview behind William Brown and the Heron brothers. Evans displayed a solid top 3 led by Jonathan Greene's runnerup effort of 15:57.

Two Mile Run

6A Girls- Harrison won the Hoya 2 Mile beating several solid 7A squads with a team average of 12:36. Riley Perlakowski controlled the race taking the win clocking a 11:44 Pope won the Pickens Preview holding off strong 3A squad Pace Academy. Freshman Charlotte Dunn had a breakout race placing 4th at 20:17, with Sophie Boice and Lorel Golden 5th and 6th respectively. Makena Gates of Creekview ran well at battle of the Fairways taking 2nd in 12:07. Evans HS won the Mid State Classic behind soph Madison Kennedy's overall runnerup finish of 18:49.

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5A Boys- Carrollton ahad a surprsing outcome at the Hoya 2 Mile behind new coach Jimmy Sorrells. The Trojans had a team average of 10:58 and Collin Jones had a terrific race taking runnerup honors at 10:00  Riverwood International ran well at the Zach Wansley meet having a team average of 17:36 led by the duo of Eli Hoppenfeld's 3rd place finish of 16:31 and Cody Kaplan's 17:09.

Two Mile Run

5A Girls- Riverwood planted their flag early as the Raiders seized the team win over  a solid 3A Lovett squad. Three girls went sub 20: including overall runnerup freshman Alexa Hoppenfeld at 19:26, along with Nina Quellette and Elle Mezzio both at 19:58 Union Grove won the Into the Trail Invitational with the Parsons sisters leading the way with Gabby Parsons runnerup with a time of 19:47 and frosh Bianca Parsons 5th at 21:48  Mackenzie Walls from Veterans HS wrecked the field at the Mid State Classic going 17:51, while Laney Doster from nearby Jones County winning at Into the Trail clocking a 19:18

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4A Boys- In Week 1, none of the class powers (Pius, Marist, Blessed, North OC, Oconee) competed in invitationals and open their seasons this weekend. As a team Lagrange had the best showing in a 5K placing 2nd behind Lovett at Zach Wansley with a team avg. of 17:36. Sr's Miller Penn (17:26) and Alex Bowie (17:31) both placed in the top 10 at 7th/9th respectively. Mary Persons ran well at Mid State with Jr Justin Wachtel tearing it up going 14:55. Denmark HS ran at the Branch 2 Mile and showed promise besting Flowery Branch and Collins Hill. The duo of Karthik Kochuparambil and Ethan Ashley ran in tandem going 1-2 in 11:05 and 11:06. Henry Plowden of Westover HS was 3rd at Mid State in 16:12 

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4A Girls- With the top teams not racing last week, gave a few squads and individuals a chance to shine. Mary Persons placed 2nd at Mid State having a team avg of 22:46 with their 1-4 in close contact. Lagrange placed 3rd at Zack Wansley, Denmark easily outran Flowery Branch at the Branch 2 Mile. Top individuals were Shamia Jones of Westover taking 7th at Mid State in 20:46, Heaven Allen of Columbus HS Overall winner at Muscogee County Early Bird at 20:49 and Jessica Perriello of Denmark winning the Branch 2 Mile at 13:29

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3A Boys- Completely different scenario for 3A Boys as 7 team Podium contenders raced, though some may have not been full strength. Pace came out of the chute hard beating 6A defending Champ Pope at the Pickens Preview. Lovett convincingly won at Zach Wansley. Westminster defended their home turf at the Kosh Classic beating 7A Norcross, Decatur and North Hall. Dawson County raced to 4th at Pickens Preview and Hart County was dominant at the Bulldog Early. Notable individuals were Jackson Borden of Lovett who won at Zach Wansley in 15:56 and team mate James Lewallen who was runnerup at 16:09. Ben McGinnis of Dawson took individual honors at Pickens going 16:24 and Andrew Jones of North Hall won at the tough Kosh Classic course posting a 16:31

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3A Girls- Westminster will not race until the Carrollton Invitational, so Pace and Lovett are both on stage until then. Pace pushed 6A squad to the wire at Pickens Preview taking runnerup 4 points back. Lovett was 2nd behind 5A Riverwood at the Zach Wansley meet. Sydney Lamberson of Lovett showed her stuff dominating the race at Zach Wansley turning in a 19:11. Others having solid races were Penny King of Lovett (20:27), Laura Arenth (20:47) and Payton Payne (20:54) of Pace were 8th/9th at Pickens Preview. Jr Caylee Wagner of North Hall was 2nd overall at the Kosh Classic going 21:06

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2A Boys- Only 4 2A schools raced last week, but 2 squads look to be contenders including perennial power Bleckley County who competed at the tough Kosh Classic course on Westminster's campus placing 6th behind 5 solid teams. Garrett Rogers and freshman Luke Churchwell both ran well. Vidalia is a team that can make a Podium run and had a nice race at the Mid State Classic placing 7th as a team. Cole Register turned in the fastest time of the week going 17:43. Let's see how Jordan does at a few meets outside Columbus before jumping on that wagon.

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2A Girls- Just 4 2A Girls squads raced last week, and one of them was Bleckley County, a heavy favorite to repeat as champ. All they did was make the long trip up to Atlanta and win the team title at the Kosh Classic beating 5A & 6A teams with a team average of 23:20  The Royals placed 2 in the top 7 including Tristen Crosby 3rd and Austin Perez 7th. Vidalia placed 9th at Mid State led by Saran Owen's 9th place finish at 21:01.

A Private Boys- Two top A Private squads were in action last weekend and this week all of the big dogs should be racing. Strong Rock Christian gave 5A Union Grove all they could handle finishing 8 points back at 'Into the Trail' Justin George (18:02), Noah Kilgore (18:03) and Hank Guinade (18:04) ran as a pack sweeping the 3-5 spots. Wesleyan took 2nd at their home invite with veteran Mac Howie leading the way going 17:47  Devin Wade of Whitefield Academy had a strong outing taking runnerup honors at the Kosh Classic posting a 16:44  Sr Seth Brahney of Mount de Sales had a strong season opener at the Mid State Classic placing 4th at 16:44

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A Private Girls- Much like the boys, the A Private girls should be on full display beginning this weekend. Hebron Christian placed 4th at Zach Wansley led by Brooke Browning who had the fastest time of the week at 19:39 for 3rd overall and Georgia Piper placed 6th at 20:24  Wesleyan began their season slowly at Wesleyan Home Meet #1 placing 5th against some tough competition. Atlanta International's Reagan Mahoney (20:26) and Cara Joyce (20:45) swept the top 2 places at Wesleyan. Emily Raeside of Mount Vernon Presbyterian was 4th at 'Into the Trail' at 21:04 

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A Public Boys- All 5 A Public teams racing last week competed at the Mid State Classic down in Perry. Schley County had the upper hand with 3 runners going sub 19: including Week 1 ROW David Williams who turned in a time of 18:05

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A Public Girls- ACE Charter out of Macon, easily outdistanced the other A Public squads having a team average of 24:42 led by Week 1 ROW Katelyn Taylor's 23:28.

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