GHSA Cross Country Season Preview Boys and Girls 1-3A Priv.

1A-3A Private Team & Individual Returner Rankings

1A-3A Private Girls

So here we have a brand new classification. We've seen private and public separated before, but never like this. So things are going to get interesting. This is a very competitive classification, and some of the teams look stronger than ever before. Wesleyan is the 3A state champion from last year and returns their entire top 4 from state and their 7th runner who probably just had an off day at state. So it's no surprise that they sit on top of the virtual meet. They have 5 runners who could all compete for top 10 spots, and a solid 6-7 to back them up. So odds are they'll be able to get the job done this year. Lovett is lurking though and is probably just one good freshman away from coming in and making this a really competitive team race. So don't crown Wesleyan just yet. Lovett's got the front runners and a strong 3-4 right now on paper. They finished 4th in a very competitive 4A last year and return almost everybody from that team that performed well at state. So they're definitely proven enough to compete here. Wesleyan has little room for error. Athens Academy is also in the mix here as the 2A state champions from last year who also return everybody from that squad. 2A wasn't as deep as 3A or 4A, but Acad still got the job done fairly easily. And winning is winning. Maybe they weren't pushed to be their best, and maybe they've got more in the tank. If so, they'll be competing for the win here too. They've got the individual favorite in Maya Davis who will most likely make it so they only have to worry about what their 2-5 runners do compared to everybody else's 1-5, and that's definitely an advantage. Rounding out the podium favorites is Fellowship Christian School who finished runner up in 2A last year giving Acad a decent race too. But like I said this classification is really strong overall, so you could see schools like Holy Innocents, Paideia, Hebron Christian, or Landmark Christian get better than last year and get into the mix for a podium spot. All of them have history of doing well at state.

Individually, Maya Davis will probably run away with this thing. She has really stepped up her game to become one of the elite runners in the state. If she's healthy, I won't be surprised to see her contending for a spot at nationals this fall. So it's not a knock against any of the other top girls in this classification, who are also very strong. It's just more a testament to how good of a runner Davis is. But the other top girls here are pretty strong too. Starting with Mary Parrish Green who came back from a really bad injury last fall and had a solid season capped off with a really solid state meet. She should be near the front of this race. As should Ruby Gordon who is a very good runner in her own right, especially on the track. If she can translate that track success a little more to cross country this fall, then she will be hard for anybody to beat, even Davis. Weezie Moore won state last year in 3A, but this will be a much harder test. That being said, we've seen plenty of sophomore girls make big jumps before, so you never know. Don't count her out here. After that you've got a strong pac of girls who could all contend for the rest of the top ten. Some of them will get left out, unfortunately. But that's one of the things that makes this sport great, it's challenging. 

1A-3A Private Boys

I really think the way they did this split is very weird. The schools in this classification are supposed to play a region schedule during the season and then get separated for playoffs. That's just weird, GHSA. Fortunately we don't have to do that in our sport and we can look at these teams relative to each other all season, including right now. I know on paper this one looks like Whitefield has a pretty big lead. But I think Lovett is actually going to be right there too. They had a strong track season, and several of their boys made pretty big jumps this spring. It was noticeable. I think Whitefield is a very good team, and they'll have a strong 1-2-3 punch up front. But I suspect Lovett will have just as many guys in the top 10, if not more. It just feels like that team is on the verge of breaking out, and I think we might see it this fall which would make these two teams fairly even heading into state. Paideia gets one more year of the Matt and Ben Walton-Scott show, and I think they'll try to take advantage of that. They look like a strong contender for a podium spot, but I think they'll need a little help in order to be a threat for the win. After them I could see Darlington, Hebron Christian, or Wesleyan getting the final podium spot here. Wesleyan has the front runners, but needs some depth. Darlington has the tightest pack, but Hebron is not that far behind them. There will probably be alot of movement among these schools this year. 

Individually in this one I do think Wood Moore comes in as the man to beat. He not only had the best cross country season lats year of anybody in this classification, but he also had the best track season this spring. He's well rounded and has the fastest PR's at each event 1600 and up. He's the favorite. But I won't be shocked if Haris Flynn pulls of the win here. Flynn's more of an 800 runner, but he's still very strong on the distance side of things with a very good cross country PR for an 800 runner as well as a very solid 1600 time. If anybody is going to take down Moore, it'll probably be Flynn. Bo Mitchell and Riley Hugues will probably both be pretty strong as will the Walton-Scott brothers. So it's a pretty crowded top 10 after the two favorites. And there are some really important team points up for grabs in this one. It will be fun to watch.