State Meet Hub
4A State Preview
Girls Team
The 4A girls team battle will feature just about every possible storyline that an exciting XC meet can offer. There is the team (Westminster) that is looking to extend one of Georgia's longest ever state championship streaks. There is a second team (Pace Academy) that is also a two-time defending champ. There are two public schools (North Hall and Starrs Mill) that are looking to win their first ever state meet. No matter who wins on Saturday, the team will have earned it.
Let's begin the preview by looking at the school that recently moved to the top of the 4A rankings: Pace Academy. Pace has been bested by Westminster, Starr's Mill, and North Hall at different points this season, but they were missing key runners in all of those races. Caroline Hood made her return at region and immediately showed why she was the preseason favorite by casually running a 17:53. Not too far behind at region was teammate Zahara Bernal, who has been a sub-20:00 machine all season long. Freshmen Harriet Blaha and Eva Swales also feature in Pace's top five, so the future is very bright for the Knights.
Westminster started the season late as is usual for the Wildcats, running their first race at the Carrollton Orthopaedic Invitational on September 10. They have faced off against both Starr's Mill and Pace multiple times this season and finished either first or second against both schools every time. Defending 3A state champ Palmer Walstad leads the Cats with three sub-19:00 performances this season. There's a gap after her, but as usual Westminster has depth, and the pack from 2-5 is pretty tight led by Alexandra Lalli.
Starr's Mill has mixed it up with the private school powers a few times this season, and they came out on top in some key moments: at Carrollton Ortho and most recently at Coach Wood. What makes this team especially dangerous is that they are completely freshmen-led, with Allison Moore and Ana Miller leading the way for the team. In fact, five of the seven fastest freshmen in 4A this year were from Starr's Mill, so there's no telling what these girls are capable of.
Finally, North Hall was once ranked in the top 5 all-class early in the season, but slightly backslid due to some injuries and not running in any of the major meets. However, taking five out of the top six spots in the most competitive region in the state is a good way to show that you are a state contender. Clodagh O'Bryant, Jessie Dubnik, and Harleigh Smith lead this squad that will likely be winning the race through four runners-can their fifth runner bring home North Hall's first title?
Other teams to watch include Lovett, Whitewater, Central High School, Holy Innocents', and North Oconee as they will hope to take advantage of the smallest slip-up for the teams above to grab a top 4 or 5 spot.
Girls Individual
Caroline Hood of Pace comes into the race as the on-paper favorite. She is the reigning 2A state champion and is undefeated this season, albeit in only three races. She looked to be slightly off her normal pace at region, so we'll see if she is 100% at the state meet. Palmer Walstad of Westminster might be her top challenger. Walstad is another defending XC champion who garnered top 10 finishes at Carrollton Orthopaedic, Wingfoot, and Asics this year. Clodagh O'Bryant of North Hall could be a dark horse to win the whole meet. O'Bryant hasn't finished worse than 4th in any race this season and is no stranger to challenging courses. Other runners who could feature in the top ten include Bernal and Blaha of Pace, Moore of Starr's Mill, Dubnik of North Hall, and Lalli of Westminster. Notice a theme? The top teams all have the top individuals, so the front of the race will be crucial for teams trying to drop their point total. Runners from other schools to keep an eye on include Adison Myers of Cherokee Bluff, Harley Martz of Druid Hills, and Abby Newton and Mary Poole Smith of Lovett.
Boys Team
The big question for the boys' side will be whether Starr's Mill can pull off the upset over Westminster. The two schools have separated themselves from the pack in 4A and have very different histories and racing styles. Starr's Mill has won just one XC state title in team history (in 2018), whereas Westminster has captured five straight championships. Starr's Mill has raced in 5A in the recent past until this year, while Westminster had been running in 3A. Starr's Mill packs it in tight with a 1-5 split of around 30 seconds in most races this season, while Westminster has clear front-runners and a 1-5 split of about 80 seconds. Finally, Starr's Mill is hoping to grab the victory with a veteran team with three seniors among their top five runners, but Westminster returns five of their top seven next year. Joseph Jacquot leads the Wildcats, but Esfan Daya and Jacob Jacquot have been instrumental in giving Westminster one of the best 1-3 punches in all of GA. Watch out for the 4-7 pack for Westminster as well, which is pretty tight also. For Starr's Mill, seniors Grant Dougher, Nat Miller, and Denver Oates have all steadily improved throughout their time in XC to lead the Panthers to the doorstep of a championship.
After those top two teams, quite a few schools can claim to be serious podium contenders. Lovett has overcome some serious roster turnover in the last two years to have the Lions running their best ahead of the state meet with a nice 1-7 split that's only about a minute long. Lovett bested Pace at Region 5-4A, but Pace was missing their key #4 and #5 runners. Pace has a great top three, but their region meet showed that their depth isn't quite as good as some of the other top teams. Cedartown has avoided the major meets of the season, so state will be their first time racing against most of these schools. However, this school is led by a definite top 10 contender in Dalton Benefield and has its whole top five under 18:00. Clarkston and Holy Innocents' had an entertaining battle at Region 6, where Clarkston took the upper hand. Have their recovered their magic from their threepeat from 2014-16? North Hall, Chestatee, and East Forsyth could all find themselves in the top five as well if the race goes according to plan.
Boys Individual
If the individual race goes as expected, it will represent everything that is fun about cross country: fast runners going head-to-head against each other, running smart but leaving everything on the course over the challenging Carrollton terrain. Joe Sapone of Holy Innocents' Episcopal School has been absolutely incredible this season, even with sky-high expectations after his sub-15:00 race at RunningLane last season. He raced five times this season and won five times, and he probably deserves more attention from the folks at MileSplit USA than he's currently receiving. Sapone has run 15:06 or better three times this season, and the rest of the state combined only has four such performances. One of those performances belongs to East Forsyth's Alex Arrambide. Arrambide unfortunately missed a month in the middle of the season, or he may have been able to break 15:00. As it stands now, he has won four races and finished third behind just Sapone and Marist's Tommy Latham at Coach Wood. And, as Arrambide said after that Coach Wood race, "We're just going to team up on Joseph from Westminster" at state, indicating Joseph Jacquot. Jacquot built upon an impressive sophomore track season to turn into one of Georgia's top 10 runners as a junior, but even that might not be enough to finish in the top two at state. He did run a 16:17 at Carrollton back in September, though, so he will certainly be trying to come out on top. Will we see a new course record in this race? My guess is no, but only because the 4A boys race is at 11am and it will be pretty warm by then
The chase pack behind those three looks like it will be quite exciting. Esfan Daya and freshman Jacob Jacquot will likely be trying to move up as high as possible to help out Westminster's team cause. Gabriel Best of Whitewater has also had a great season, with three races under 15:50 and a comfortable victory over the Starr's Mill pack at region. Aaron Retana of Chestatee, a key member of Chestatee's two state-winning squads in 2020 and 2021, has taken a jump this year and has finished in the top four in eight out of ten races this season. As mentioned above, Cedartown's Dalton Benefield has been dominant in a string of smaller races this season and owns a 16:18 PR. Starr's Mill might have as many as four runners in the top 12 with Grant Dougher, Nat Miller, Diego Ramos, and Denver Oates. Matthew Wells of Pace and Henry Hicks of Lovett will also try to get their teams off to a great start.