Nathan Smith will be a contender for the boys title. Photo by Alex Brust
Boys Individual
This one potentially has all of the makings of an instant classic. There are some runners in this classification that could end up challenging to be one of the best runners in any classification. And none of them have this thing locked up. The top runner by cross country PR is Taylor Wade but the runner who might have the slight edge on him on paper is Luke Churchwell. The two rising seniors look like the two to beat in this classification and could have an epic duel in November. Wade owns the fastest time and had a very strong junior campaign that saw him go under 16 four times last fall. He also placed 6th in a very strong 1A private state meet. Then on the track, he really came alive and won his first state title in the 3200 and finished the year with a PR of 9:25. Churchwell on the other hand never broke 16:00 but has the fastest Carrollton time of all returners. It's easy to overlook Churchwell until you realize that his junior year XC season is not telling the whole story. He did run 16:01 as a sophomore, which is still his PR and then he absolutely came alive on the track this spring. He ran PR's of 9:18 and 4:15 which are the top returning track times for all of 1A division 1. He often got overlooked because he was unfortunately in the shadows of some of the best runners. But now they're gone to graduation or other classes and it very well could be his turn to show his stuff from the front.
If either of these runners fades, I would look to either rising junior Andrew Rothwell or senior Nathan Smith. Neither of these runners has quite as much star power as Wade and Churchwell, but both are very good in their own right. Rothwell also broke 16 last fall as the only other returner in 1A-I to do it. He ran 4:28 and 2:02 on the track while he gained some good state meet experience to go along with his 9th place finish from state XC last year. The fact that Rothwell is the lone junior in this bunch could be his disadvantage in terms of lack of experience or it could prove to be advantageous as he has more room to grow. We will see. Meanwhile Smith has been quietly putting together a very strong high school campaign as well. He is also shown to be clutch at the state meet. In fact he beat both Wade and Rothwell to place 5th in the Xc state meet last year. He also only finished one place and one second behind Wade in the 1600 at state as well as 4th in the 3200. He definitely can't be counted out of this one as he knows how to make the state meet his best race. After those four I don't see a clear favorite, but other runners who could be in the mix for a top ten finish include Ryan Glass, Trace Harris, Grant Cross, Isaac Martin, Krish Leveille, Rowdie Epps, Matt Walton-Scott, Ben Walton-Scott, Dylan Dixon, and Luke McGarity.
Boys Team
This also has the makings of a wild and crazy finish. There are four teams who all probably went into the summer thinking this race was going to be theirs if they worked hard. So let's take a look at each and see why they'll be in the mix. Since there's very little to separate them, here they are in alphabetical order.
Bleckley County is the lone public school that appears to be in the mix. If you're surprised by their inclusion here, you clearly haven't been paying attention in recent years as they've consistently been one of the best small school programs in the state for a while now, public or private.They don't quite have the flash that some of the other programs do, but years of consistent coaching has clearly paid off for them and they have won two state titles as well. They've got a low stick in Churchwell but they've also got the depth necessary to compete for the win in a race like this. They didn't chase as the PR courses as much as others so they appear a little lower in the 5k rankings than they probably are, but their track times speak for themselves.
Darlington hasn't won a state title since 1998 but this may be their best chance since. They have two potential front runners with Cross and Glass while also having enough talent at 3-4-5 to take home the big trophy. They've also got some good track times to back up their XC times from last year. I wouldn't be surprised if they went all in on this season in pursuit of this big win. Look for them to have a potential four headed monster that the others just can't handle as Anthony Natarella and David Edwards are right on the cusp of being great. One big summer could have changed that.
Paideia is pursuing their first team title in school history. And they finally have the one thing that has potentially held them back from winning before: Depth. They have the problem that all coaches both love and hate. They have no idea who will run state for them because they have too many guys all really close to each other. On a cross country team, that's basically magic in a bottle for your program. Their 1-5 split by PR is only 39 seconds which is less than any other team on this list. And to back that up their times are even closer in track events. They've got 3-4 guys who could be top ten for them which would all but wrap it up if it happens with how strong their 5-7 runners look. Can they handle the pressure and get the job done when it's this close with so many other good teams?
Whitefield Academy is the only one on this list who knows what it's like to be on top. they won their school's first team title last fall and look to be right in the mix for a repeat. Their two studs could possibly go as low as 1-2 to give them a huge head start on everybody else. They've also got the experience and know what it takes to win. If there's one thing this team is missing it's the depth that the other 3 all seem to have. But that might not be a problem come November. Winning breeds winning and I'm sure there are many more kids in the school excited to work hard in pursuit of a mother title now that they know it's possible.
Other schools who could mix it up and land on the podium this year include Armuchee, Heard County, and Galloway.