The 5A cross country outlook was significantly shaken up by the GHSA realignment. Most notably, perennial private school contenders St. Pius X and Blessed Trinity have moved up to 6A, and Starr's Mill and Whitewater have moved down to 4A. Meanwhile, schools that are new to 5A and could be instant contenders include Cambridge and Chattahoochee (moving down from 6A), Jefferson and Flowery Branch (moving up from 4A), and Greater Atlanta Christian (jumping all the way from 3A).
Boys Team
On the boys' side, Decatur will be gunning for their third state title in three seasons. William Carlton is coming off a great track season where he won the 5A state meet in the 3200m and is the individual favorite on paper. He'll be joined by four other Bulldogs from last year's state winning squad, including Jake Westing and Zakariye Abdulahi, both top-5 contenders on their own. This team has depth, with seven returners who broke 17 minutes last season. Decatur might be the heaviest favorites on the boys' side in any classification, and for good reason.
The battle for second place could be a close one. McIntosh and Chapel Hill are both contenders in very different ways. Caleb Kreitner ran well last season and leads a McIntosh team that returns basically all of their top guys from last year's 6th place team. Improving their #4 and #5 runners will be key for their hopes. Chapel Hill does not have a standout individual, but their top 5 returners all have PRs within 25 seconds of each other led by Solomon Johnson. Woodland and new teams GAC and Cambridge will be battling for that final podium spot and vying for more.
Boys Individual
Other individuals to look out for include Beck Wolf-Hardy of Clarke Central (fourth best returner from last year's 5A state meet), William Elder and Matthew Coates of Chamblee (5th and 6th at 3200m state meet), and Tyler Jones of Woodland (16:21 5k last season). This season will see a ton of new runners in the top 20 of the state meet, so it will be interesting to see who rises to the top in the next few months.