Holy Innocents', Pike County, and Parkview Dominate at the 2022 Kennesaw State Invitational (Noonday Park in Kennesaw)
by Stephen JayarajHaving hosted only Collegiate teams in 2021, the 2022 Kennesaw State Invitational on Friday night, 9/2, welcomed high school teams for the first time, and all the teams were excited to race on the quick and very spectator friendly Noonday Park course, set up by Kennesaw State Cross Country Head Coach Adam Bray.
The first to race on this beautiful, flat course were the High School JV Teams. Holy Innocents' won the Boys JV with 20 points while Allatoona HS won the Girls with 28 points. All who attended immediately thought Kennesaw State had a new jewel on the Georgia HS cross country calendar.
Unfortunately, conditions did not cooperate for the second collegiate race and HS Varsity races, as many kids felt they were running in the famous Swamp (football stadium). None-the-less, the Parkview Girls - a possible Super 6 Team in 7A - had a great meet and easily captured the Championship led by race winner Senior Haley Primm. Primm was backed by Citlali Diaz (4th), Aubrey Bailey (7th), Jordan Seymour (10th) and Senior Zhari Maxineau (11th), who collectively slammed the door on Allatoona HS and Holy Innocents' Episcopal.
Parkview ended up scoring a low of 26 points, while runner-up Allatoona HS finished with 49. The Buccaneers are currently ranked 5th in the 6A Girls updated time rankings. They had a solid race on the super sticky night and were led by Senior Cecilia Hensel (meet runner-up) and super soph Emily Hohl (6th place). With some of their top 5 runners out for the Labor Day break definitely look for Coach Patrick Parsons' squad, assisted by Alex Holmgren, to compete for the State Podium this November at Carrollton.
Speaking of the podium, the Holy Innocents' Episcopal Golden Bears have made the podium in A Private for 6 straight years, including their 2019 GHSA State Championship. The Golden Bears have now moved all the way to 4A and raced to their best opening 5K since that 2019 crew. They scored 64 points for 3rd place and were led by the Senior trio of Tatum McKinnis (3rd), Reese Neumann (12th) and Reese Martin (18th). All have earned All-State honors at least once in their decorated careers (Top 10 at State).
"Our whole coaching staff loves the energy and leadership of our Girls Team. We all strongly believe this Senior Group teaches us as much as we guide and lead them," said Associate Head Coach Stephen Jayaraj. "Our Head Coach Kevin Lewis has brought a great deal of leadership/guidance to our program in terms of both organization and mentoring me to be the best possible teacher I can be. We also have Coach Dunn whom I call the Saint Nick of Georgia TF and XC (for bringing positive energy to everyone he meets.) Our Girls are going to do all we can to make the Podium for the 7th consecutive year in what is shaping up to be a very close 4A race. We tip our hat to both Parkview and Allatoona on a night that turned out to be a slower course then all of us expected. Both teams are super well coached, and we hope to see them again later this season (hopefully Coach Wood). Finally, we were thankful to race at this venue as Noonday is an exciting and very spectator friendly venue for everyone (spectators, coaches and fans)."
For many staying for the last race on Friday night, the buzz in the air was how fast Super Senior Joe Sapone would run on what looked like a Coach Wood type course. Coach Dunn of HIES predicted a 16 flat or higher for Sapone based on previous races, but Joe was super fit (evidenced by his 20:21.5 6400 meters time trial on the track a few weeks ago with a 4:43 closing mile) and had other plans. Joe went out and instantly gapped the field when his mom yelled out to him his time at what they both thought was the Mile mark (passed by Joe at 6 minutes and change). Joe immediately dropped what looked like a Sub 3 Kilometer (4:48 Mile pace), decimating the entire field, and the race immediately began for second place. Lights Out at the park!
Holy Innocents' ended up winning a tight battle with AAA newcomer/powerhouse Pike County. The Golden Bears were led by the Senior quartet of Sapone, Ryan Kelley, Parker Miles, and William Keagle. Juniors Walton Sullivan and Charlie Reynolds (PR), along with Freshmen Gavin Miles, rounded out the deepest team in HIES History. The Pirates gave it a strong effort to win the meet and were led by the outstanding duo of Xander Potter and Luke Woerner. John Barber, Andrew Edwards, and Jack Bell rounded out the scoring for this vastly improving team, which has emerged as a legitimate AAA Contender. Congrats to the Pike County HS XC Coaching Staff for all their efforts in growing/improving their program. Look for them on the AAA podium this fall at State.
Meet Director Adam Bray, Head XC Coach of Kennesaw State, had this to say about his Inaugural HS Meet: "We are very grateful for every High School program that chose to attend our opening meet of the season. We hope that everyone had great races and a great =me! Best wishes to everyone on the remainder of their seasons. We are already looking forward to hosting again next year." Thank you to Coach Bray, Coach McDaniel and their staff/student-athletes and definitely look for triple the schools (at least) for the 2023 Kennesaw State Invite.