2022 All Class Boys Rankings

Carrollton had a very strong showing at the Pickens Preview with a 16:39 average. They followed that up by winning Bob Blastow without their second best performer from Pickens Preview, Will Jennings, in a 16:17 average. They will be racing this week at their home course and state meet course where they will compete against 7A rivals, Lambert High School.

Speaking of Lambert, they made their varsity squad season debut this weekend at the Berry Clara Bowl Invitational, led by the strong 1-2 punch of Kushan Patel and Jackson Hogsed. This team also has a close-knit 3-5 and averaged a 16:30 on the hilly terrain. The closest team average I could find that was comparable to this team was 2013 Saint Pius X who averaged 16:40 on this course and went on to average 16:40.76 at the state meet.

The Westminster School opened up their season with a win at their home course in the Kosh Klassic and then had an impressive victory at the AT&T Starr's Mill Panther XC Meet. They averaged 16:30 and beat talented out-of-state rivals, Auburn High School, by seven points. Mill Creek's squad who was arguably the best team last season averaged 16:20 at last year's meet.

Definitely one of the deepest 1-5 in Georgia this season. Brookwood really likes running in a pack. It is apparent in their 1-5 average split time of 25.13 seconds. They won their season debut at the NEGA Championships and lost to a talented Decatur squad by two points at the Jekyll Island Cross Country Invitational. They are still ahead of Decatur in this week's rankings due to missing their first and second man from the NEGA Championships, Don Presley and Carter Dehnke. If Brookwood's low-sticks can compete with Carrollton and Lambert's top men, we are in for a very interesting team race in 7A this season.

North Atlanta might have the strongest 1-3 in the state. The team's third man almost broke 16:00 at Bob Blastow. The team lost to #1 All-Class Carrollton High School by 26 points. They will have to depend on their 4 & 5 to close the gap if they want to move up in the rankings. Their full varsity squad will be competing at the "Southern Showcase" in Alabama on 09/17/2022.

Another team with a very strong 1-3 is Decatur High School. They made their varsity season debut at the Jekyll Island Cross Country Invitational and squeaked out a two point victory over Brookwood High School. Decatur and Etowah High School are the only two squads in the state with two runners who went sub 4:20 in the 1600 last track season. You can expect their fast track speed to lead to success on the course. Decatur has the fastest 1-5 average in the state based on last track season's 1600 times at 4:30.55.

They were not even mentioned as a contender in the AT&T Starr's Mill Panther XC meet preview, yet they showed up big time. Marist benefits from having one of the best individual runners in the state, Tommy Latham, and a 2-4 who ran within seven seconds of each other at the Starr's Mill meet thanks to a HUGE transfer. We will see how close their 5th man can join that 2-4 pack, and help them move up in the all-class rankings.

All quiet on the Marietta front so far this season. They have raced one time at the Pickens Preview, where they averaged 17:04. Conditions were sloppy and tough so you can expect this team to improve signifcantly on those times. They were 51 points off all-class #1 Carrollton. They will race again this weekend at the Carrollton Orthopaedic Invitational.

These final two teams are completely interchanchangable and will probably be close competitors throughout the season. Starr's Mill finished fourth in their home invitational this past Saturday. They had a 16:57 average and a 16 second 1-5 split. They were 27 points off of third place, Marist boys. That "pack mentality" is crucial in cross country races.

Whitefield's success in the all-class team rankings depends heavily on how low-sticks, Taylor Wade and Andrew Rothwell, perform. At their full strength, this squad beat Starr's Mill at Bob Blastow by a slim 9 points. Last week, Wade did not compete and the team only finsihed 10th overall and 9th amongst Georgia teams. It is still early in the season. There will inevetably be a lot of movement in the team rankings and we will see how it all unfolds.