Editor's note: All lists in this series are the opinion of the author of this article, they are not meant to be a definitive final ranking, but more a way to take a look back at the best of the best in recent history.
Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a great summer. Just like with the top 10 runners articles, I thought it would be a fun exercise to rank the top 10 cross country teams in Georgia from the past 10 years (2014-2023). We've seen some incredible teams come and go. Some of these programs continue to be great today, and some may have hit a peak that they haven't reached since. This list is obviously not definitive and is subjective, and it's meant to praise some of GA's best teams in recent history. If you disagree, that's totally fine!
Before we dive into the list, here are the rules I abided by in my rankings. The most important rule was that I tried to weight state meet and postseason performance about equally with regular season performance. Sometimes, that meant picking teams that performed very well at state over teams that may have defeated them in the regular season but didn't do as well at state. I only selected from teams that finished in the top two at their respective state meets. Finally, I limited each school to only two slots on this list. I wanted to make sure we saw some variation in the teams that were selected here. With that out of the way, here's the list.
Honorable mention: 2018 Marist; 2021 St. Pius X; 2014 Northview; 2015 Mill Creek; 2017 Marietta
10. 2013 Peachtree Ridge
Coach Ron Clanton had a very successful period of coaching at Peachtree Ridge High School, when he coached the boys to a title in 2008 and the girls in 2013. In 2013, Peachtree Ridge had a talented and hardworking group of senior girls who were ready to finally take home a championship, including Addy Lippitt, Caroline Williams, and Laurel Wilson. The team easily won the Clara Bowl in their first race of the season, and they topped 6A rival and defending champions Brookwood at Carrollton Orthopedic by one point. Lippitt developed into one of GA's top runners that season, but it was the emergence of freshman Meghan Peel and senior Hayley Spears that helped Peachtree Ridge become a more well-rounded team. The team won Alexander/Asics by almost 50 points with an 18:51 team average and finished only behind Marist at Coach Wood, before dominating their strong region meet. At the 6A state meet, Peachtree Ridge proved they deserved their school's first girls' XC state title with a hard-fought 12-point victory over Brookwood. Lippitt finished in the top 5 and the 2-5 runners (Peel, Williams, Wilson, and Spears) finished within 27 seconds of each other as the Lions' depth finished off their challengers. Six of Peachtree Ridge's top seven were seniors, so this meet was a fitting send-off for the team.
9. 2016 South Forsyth
South Forsyth was a fifth runner away from winning the 6A state title in 2015. However, after graduating three of their top five runners (including star Savannah Carnahan), it appeared making it back to contention would be difficult. The War Eagles thought otherwise. They worked hard to improve in the offseason, and they entered 2016 with a strong top trio consisting of junior Kaylee DuPont, senior Millicent Bergey, and freshman Caroline Patterson. Led by those three, South Forsyth won the Pickens Preview, Bob Blastow, and Warpath, handily beating Marist at the latter meet. As the season progressed, a strong back half of the varsity squad developed: sophomore Aleesa de Castro and freshmen Sophia Baker and Emma Kline. After Warpth, South Forsyth lost to only one GA school the rest of the season, and that was Milton, to whom the War Eagles very narrowly lost at Wingfoot, Coach Wood, and region. Coach Nick Wansley had his team prepared to run their best at the state meet, though. While Milton had beaten South Forsyth at the #4 slot all season, de Castro had a huge state meet in that position to help South Forsyth to an ultimately dominant victory at state. DuPont raced to a runner-up finish, and Bergey and Patterson both made the all-state squad as South Forsyth won their one and only girls' state title.
8. 2020 Blessed Trinity
Blessed Trinity's only championship in the past 10 years came all the way back in 2013, but in my opinion, their best team was the 2020 version. The top returners on the team were 2019 4A champion Hannah Miniutti, now a senior, as well the 2019 runner-up, junior Kelly Ann Sutterfield. The Titans showed how capable this team could be at Bob Blastow, where the team raced to an 18:08 average on a 3-mile course. Besides Miniutti and Sutterfield, junior Katie Hamfeldt, freshman Claire Petersen, and senior Nicole Chastain filled out the top five and were very capable of stepping up in the case of any injuries. That was fortunate because Miniutti and Sutterfield both missed a few races. Blessed Trinity still dominated the Starr's Mill Panther Invitational without Miniutti, but the real tests were still to come. At a BT-St. Pius-Marist tri-meet, Blessed Trinity finished third, but they were missing Miniutti and Hamfeldt. They were whole again at Alexander/Asics, and they won the meet over St. Pius, Marist, and some strong out-of-state teams with an incredible 18:36 average. The Titans held their whole top 5 out of the region meet to ensure everyone was healthy for state. Their plan mostly worked, as Miniutti finished third overall, Hamfeldt had an amazing race for sixth, and their whole top five finished in the meet's top 15 for only 49 points. Unfortunately, that was only good enough for second place as St. Pius X scored 42 points, but that shouldn't take away from how good Blessed Trinity was in 2020.
7. 2016 Landmark Christian
Because these rankings don't take into account the size of the schools, almost every team on the boys' and girls' team rankings is a school currently in 5A or higher. That's every team except Landmark Christian, which was in 1A when the special 2016 team arrived. This was legendary coach Bill Thorn's strongest team in the past 10 years, which is certainly saying something. Even though Landmark legend Kathryn Foreman had just graduated, Landmark returned her younger sister Sarah (now a junior), as well as senior Nicole Fegans and junior Mary Kellison Thorne. Landmark also received reinforcements when Fegans's younger sister, freshman Erin Fegans, joined the team. Finally, junior Lindsey Biggar made some huge improvements from the previous season to anchor the team's top five. Landmark won the Atlanta Classic (over Milton), the Battle of Atlanta (over Marist), and Starr's Mill Panther (over Hillgrove and Auburn HS from Alabama). Landmark had perhaps their best race of the season at Alexander/Asics, where the squad set an 18:52 team average and bested second place by 77 points. Landmark also dominated at region with an 18:43 average, with Nicole Fegans running 17:39 to lead the team. State was not even close, and Landmark must set have the record for margin of victory with 108 points separating them (25 points) from second place (133 points). The War Eagles placed all five scorers in the top 10; their order was Nicole Fegans, Foreman, Erin Fegans, Thorne, and Biggar.
6. 2019 St. Pius X
Before 2019, St. Pius X had been second fiddle to Marist for about six seasons, never quite able to defeat the War Eagles at state. It appeared that Marist would have the upper hand again in 2019 after defeating St. Pius at Warpath and Wingfoot. The Golden Lions had trained to overcome adversity, though, and this team responded very well. Besides Breault, the team featured senior Morgan Vaden, junior Mary Brady, and freshmen Grace Von Biberstein and Hannah Schemmel. That's three runners who would become state champions, and an additional two who had multiple top-five finishes. Marist still finished ahead of St. Pius at Great American, but the Golden Lions had closed the gap to just five points. At Coach Wood, the gap was 10 points, but St. Pius had the faster team average (an amazing 18:34) by seven seconds, and Von Biberstein and Schemmel were improving each race. Finally, at 4A state, St. Pius managed to overcome Marist by eight points and surging Blessed Trinity by four points in an epic three-team battle. St. Pius's team average was 19:37, which ranks third all-time on the current Carrollton layout. Vaden, Breault, and Brady all finished in the top seven. St. Pius went on to win the Meet of Champions (over Marist again), and they finished 12th at Nike Cross Nationals even with a slightly subpar performance. The state championship was St. Pius's first in seven years, and it kick-started a three-year state championship streak.
5. 2021 Marist
Marist has obviously had a lot of success over the last ten seasons. In fact, they have won the state meet 14 of the last 15 years. However, 2021 was a special season. The War Eagles returned six of their top seven runners from a 2020 championship team that only scored 30 points at state. They were led by sophomore Ruby Little, who was one of GA's top few runners that year, but their strength was really in the supporting cast. Seniors Nicole Pizzo and Johna Grisik, junior Kate Selover, and freshman Maeve Waddell all contributed to the team's success. The top four runners of Little, Pizzo, Grisik, and Selover all had SBs of 19:10 or better. Their season can just be summarized by the simple fact that they went completely undefeated against GA teams in 2021. They won some of the state's largest meets such as Carrollton Orthopedic, Wingfoot, and Coach Wood. However, as just about any runner will tell you, all of that success pales in comparison to what happens at the state meet, and Marist had the most dominant state meet performance in GA history. Coach Matt McMurray's squad swept the first four places with Little winning by 45 seconds, followed by Grisik, Pizzo, and Selover. Waddell finished the team's scoring in seventh place, before all but two other teams had a single runner across. Marist's 17 points at the 4A meet was a state record in any classification.
4. 2020 St. Pius X
2019 may have been St. Pius's breakthrough season, but this squad was even stronger the following year. They returned senior Mary Brady, sophomore Hannah Schemmel, and senior Catherine Breault to form a fearsome trio early on. This season saw many races canceled due to the pandemic, so St. Pius participated in several smaller meets instead. The top trio was too much for Lambert and South Forsyth at an early-season tri-meet, and the Golden Lions even took down Marietta at Bob Blastow the following week. The next meet saw St. Pius take down Marist at Marist's home course. There was still a question about who would step up and take those #4-5 slots, though, as St. Pius took fourth place (second among GA teams to Blessed Trinity) at Alexander/Asics. At Coach Wood, St. Pius received a huge boost when sophomore Grace Von Biberstein returned from injury, and she and senior Cala McEachron filled those 4-5 spots beautifully as St. Pius won the meet over Marist and Blessed Trinity with an 18:42 average. Finally, it all came together for the Golden Lions at 5A state. Brady, Schemmel, Von Biberstein, and Breault all finished in the top nine, and the Golden Lions averaged 19:39 to win by seven over a very strong Blessed Trinity squad that was #8 on this list.
3. 2018 Marietta
There was a time not too long ago when Marietta had never won a girls' XC state title. They broke through and won their first championship in 2017, but this 2018 squad was even better. Marietta returned all five scorers from 2017 state: senior and star athlete Ellie Hall, sophomore Betsy Gordon, junior June Mwaniki, sophomore Hattie Rydinsky, and senior Ani Henderson. Without Hall, Marietta still dominated the Battle of Atlanta. When Hall returned, Marietta was an unstoppable force. They won Cobb County with just 25 points, dominated Wingfoot with an 80+ point margin of victory, and finished third at North Carolina's Meet of Champions. Even after losing Gordon for the rest of the season after Great American, Marietta finished a narrow second to Marist at Coach Wood. Coach Jack Coleman had his team prepared to overcome such adversity. Senior Arianna Miller ably stepped into Gordon's place in the top five. At the 7A state meet, Hall and Mwaniki finished in the top four as Marietta cruised to a victory with 49 points. That score was, at the time, a record for GA's highest classification since 6A was created in 2012. Their 19:30 team average is still a Carrollton modern-course record. Marietta went on to finish seventh at the very tight NXN Southeast Regional, just 23 points behind third place, even with Gordon still out.
2. 2014 Marist
Marist was at its title-winning peak in 2014. This was the seventh championship in a span of eleven straight season atop the podium. Senior Morgan Ilse, the defending 4A champion, was joined by freshman rising star Josie Wirtz to lead a squad that also included sophomore Kendall Nelson and seniors Caitie Faust, Emily Harrast, and Marlaina Schwab. Marist went completely undefeated against GA teams in 2014, and they improved throughout the season. They narrowly defeated South Forsyth at the NEGA XC Championship (without Ilse), and then they won Double Dip, Warpath, and finally Coach Wood, which was by a single point over Northview. Marist also performed admirably at several large out-of-state meets, including Great American and Trinity/Valkyrie. Compared to the level of competition they'd faced in the regular season, the 4A state meet was a walk in the park. Marist scored just 20 points with a 19:31 average and won the meet by 97 points over St. Pius. This was definitely a team that needed to prove its mettle at NXN Southeast, and it certainly did, finishing fifth with an 18:38 average. At that meet, Ilse finished third overall, and Faust and Wirtz also finished among the top 35 scorers.
1. 2022 Marietta
This is the most recent team on the list, and it should come as no surprise to anyone who watched Marietta last season that they are ranked this highly. Coming into the season, Marietta were the defending champions by nine points over Harrison. Harrison returned their entire top six and had the low stick with Samantha McGarity, so it was up to Marietta to prove that they still belonged atop 7A. However, nobody would have predicted that the battle would almost end up being no contest. After a tight early-season victory over Harrison at Pickens Preview, Marietta welcomed freshman Mary Nesmith to the varsity squad at Carrollton Orthopedic. At that meet, she joined holdovers such as sophomore Maddie Jones, senior Kristal McQueen, sophomore Collette DePasquale, and junior Nora Hart to create a powerful quintet that scored just 31 points against some of the state's best teams. Jones grew into a definitive top runner throughout the season, and the rest of the top five followed not far behind. Marietta won Alexander/Asics with an 18:37 average and just 73 points. Two weeks later, Marietta dominated Coach Wood as well with 75 points and a 35-second 1-5 split. Harrison still may have been the second best team in the state, but Marietta was on another level. They won the 7A state meet by 68 points with a 7A-record 33 points scored, as Jones, Nesmith, McQueen, and Hart all finished in the top seven. They returned at NXN Southeast with an 18:54 average and 182 points for fifth place, within shouting distance of the top three.