The 4A cross country season will be wild. Although you could make an argument for 6A or 1A-D1, I would contend that 4A received the highest competitive boost from the new GHSA realignment. We'll get into the specifics later in the article, but private schools such as Westminster (from 3A), Pace Academy (2A), Lovett (2A) and Holy Innocents' (1A Private) will all square off in 4A for the next few seasons. These teams will be joined by other strong public schools such as North Hall (3A), Cherokee Bluff (3A), Starr's Mill (5A), and Whitewater (5A). On the other hand, a few of last year's 4A schools including Marist, Jefferson, and Flowery Branch move up in the new classification system, while Columbus and Pickens County move down. I'm already excited to see how this season shakes out in November.
Girls Team
Last year's state meet was memorable for the Marist girls putting up the lowest team score at Carrollton in GHSA state meet history (17 points!). Now that Marist is gone, we'll have to crown a new champion in 2022. Right off the bat, it seems as though North Hall might have the best shot. Although the Trojans are always in the top seven or so teams at state, the girls have never won a state championship in school history. They have a great chance this season, as they return three superstar runners. Clodagh O'Bryant should be a contender to win it all, having run sub-19:00 last year and a 5:01 1600 in track season. She'll be joined by Harleigh Smith and Abi Moore, two runners who have experience finishing in the top 5 of a cross country state meet. MaKayla Jones looks to be a very solid #4 runner, while the fifth spot might be up for grabs between a few girls.
It won't be easy for North Hall to finish the season on top, as three private schools will be breathing down their necks. Westminster is coming off of NINE straight XC titles, mostly in 3A; no other GHSA team has as an active streak of more than three. Palmer Walstad will lead the Wildcats as she looks to earn her second straight XC state title. She ran a 4:55 at track state so she will certainly be looking to win the whole thing in a new classification. However, questions remain for the Wildcats behind her, and Frazier Braintwain, Meredy Jackson, and Frances Munger may have to push each other for the Wildcats to go 10 in a row.
Meanwhile, Pace Academy won the 2A state title last year and return this year's individual favorite, Caroline Hood, who won the 2A individual title by 30 seconds last season. Similarly to Westminster, Pace is looking for runners to step up behind her. Finally, Lovett is a team that returns almost all of their firepower from last season, and sophomores Mary Parrish Green and Abby Newton will try to grab Lovett's first title since 2015. Other teams hoping to snatch a podium spot include Starr's Mill, Central, and Whitewater.
Girls Individual
On the individual side of things, we've already mentioned most of the favorites, with Hood of Pace, Green of Lovett, Walstad of Westminster, and O'Bryant of North Hall among the favorites. Tatum McKinnis leads Holy Innocents' as they jump all the way from 1A Private. Harley Martz of Druid Hills finished in the top 5 of the 800 and 1600 at the 4A state track meet this spring. Finally, Adison Myers of Cherokee Bluff finished 7th at the 3A state XC championships last year and owns a sub-20:00 5k PR.