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State Meet Hub

The 5A team races are basically polar opposites of each other. On the boys side we have a team race that could come down to the 5th man while on the girls side we have what could be the most dominant win of the entire weekend. Of course, we don't run the race on paper.

Boys Individual

This one could get saucy. I don't know who your favorite is between Malachi Burnett and James Daniel. Nor do I know how this race is going to go. On the one hand you have Burnett who already put up a very impressive time on this course to win Ortho earlier this year. That's actually probably his best race of the year, so he could be ready for Carrollton's hills. But James Daniel has a history of showing up and running well at the state meet. And he looked just as good as Burnett at sectionals last week, with both of them winning fairly easily. They raced once this season at Asics and Burnett came out on top there, but it was close enough that you certainly can't crown him yet. What's really great about this race is that they're both juniors, which means we get to see them go at it again next year too! This is just part 1 of this battle. And oh by the way, I haven't yet mentioned our wild card here with sophomore Jackson Hunter. Hunter has shown at times this season that he can be on their level as well, but he's also shown he's maybe a year away, which also leads me to believe next year will be an even better race than this year. But Hunter showed up big time at state last year and his best race so far this year is also from Carrollton. So he might be ready for his best race of the season too which could see him be competitive. It would at least be foolish to overlook him. While this is likely your gold, silver, and Bronze medalists in some order, the state meet always comes with multiple surprises. So don't count anybody else out in this one as there are a bunch of other guys who could find themselves near the front of the race. the most likely candidates are Mitchell Westlund, Dermot Maloney, Jackson Musto, and Alex Loffredio. Most likely 2 or more of those guys will finish in the top 5. But there are a few other guys who could make a strong push including Karl Ritzler, Sam Corso, Waylon Vaughn, Justin Sevel, and Everett Lawder. 

GA MileSplit Prediction
1. Burnett
2. Daniel
3. Hunter
4. Maloney
5. Loffredio

Boys Team

This boys team race is also still very much up in the air. The two preseason favorites have delivered all year and show up at the state meet ready to go mano a mano for a state title. One can assume it's gonna be Milton versus Clarke Central. And I don't see a favorite at all, either of these teams could win it. Historically I've noticed that Milton likes to get out fast on this course and Clarke Central likes to bide their time. So we could be seeing a situation of one team chasing down the other. They're also built fairly similar as their 2-3-4-5's might all be very close to one another. Clarke Central has an advantage with their top guy, but it's only gonna be a few points. Their other guys will still have to beat the Milton kids head to head. If Milton wins all of the other battles, they'll come away with the win. It's going to be exciting tomorrow so we will see who winds up on top with the win. Behind them are 6 other teams fighting for 2 more trophies. Any of the 6 could be going home with hardware, so just because one team is slightly favored, doesn't mean another team is out of it. Chattahoochee and Creekview appear to be the strongest of the bunch. Creekview has the advantage with Burnett scoring almost no points, but they're just as vulnerable as everybody at the 4-5 spots. One bad race and they're off the podium. The same is true for Chattahoochee, and really all of these 6 teams are in a position where one bad race from the 4th or 5th man could put them out of the running or one monster race could lock up a trophy for them. Pope has experience in these moments and has a nice pack at 2-3-4 which could serve to be a huge advantage to them  during the race as it'll help to have teammates to run with. Veterans, Decatur, and Northgate are all in the running as well with similar situations of having a front runner but needing the best from their 4-5 runners. 

Ga MileSplit Prediction
1. Clarke Central
2. Milton
3. Chattahoochee
4. Creekview

Girls Individual

The good news about the girls individual 5A race is that the race for the win will be a good one, while we probably already know the outcome of the 5A girls team race. I think we're going to see a big lead pack in this one. There are probably 4 or 5 different girls who all come in thinking they have a realistic shot at the win here and another 3-4 who think they could finish top 5 and maybe even pull off the upset win. We've certainly seen it before in situations like this so I'm not going to count any of these girls out. But I could also see a situation where the lead pack breaks into two and maybe by halfway we see a pack of 4 and then close behind them another pack of 4. Just a hunch.

So who's in it? Well, like I said, there are many names to talk about. And I really don't have a favorite so I'm just going to go through them based on PR. The top runner in 5A this year is Josie Hutchinson who just continues to get better. She's the only one who's been under 18:00 this year, but that's kind of splitting hairs. Either way she's run well at this meet before so I expect her to have a big day as she's very much a clutch performer. Liliana Beemer is also kind of one who has experience in big meets, as she's been a star since middle school. She's been more consistent this year so I would expect her to have a better day than she had last year. Elise Wooddell is probably the most improved girl on this list and finds herself right in the thick of things for a state title. I think the win comes down to one of those 3 girls, but I'm not ready to completely make a clean break between them and everybody else. Ella Williams(ga has run a couple of big races and looked very good at sectionals so she could find herself in the mix. Aislynn Dunn benefits from being able to have amazing training partners and for that reason should be a threat because of how much stronger her teammates make her. Audrey Hotard runs very well at this meet and she's stronger than ever, so I could see her contending with the front pack as well. Alexis Wingenbach is also significantly improved, so we will see how she handles being up with the front pack this year. Elizabeth Stamey is peaking at just the right time and that could make a huge difference. And also contending for a podium spot should be Erin O'Brien(ga, Emily McDonald, Chloe Adkins, Talley Pendleton, Anna Hicks, and Kate Rytlewski. 

Ga Milesplit Prediction
1. Hutchinson
2. Woodell
3. Hotard
4. Beemer
5. Dunn

Girls Team

This girls team race is the closest thing to in the bag that anybody can get. Pope girls have been lights out all season long and actually seem to be getting better in the end. In a year where we weren't sure who the top team would be, Pope won the freshman lottery and came out and dominated. They just look so good every single time they race. I don't see any flaws with this team and fully expect them to not only do well at this meet, but easily be the top team all class and also contend at Nike Regionals. The only real question I have about them is if they'll be able to put all 5 scorers in the top 10. They're good enough to do it, but I think 5a is deep enough that they'll hold that off. But still, it's always fun to see what would happen if you score one team against the rest of the state. Aka what happens if you score Pope against the rest of 5A as if they're all one team. I'm fairly certain the rest of 5A still wins, but it would be somewhat close.

Anyway, on to the other teams. This one is a little easier to sort out than other classes. McIntosh, Roswell, and Decatur are easily favored for the other 3 trophies. And they're all fairly even on paper too. They could finish in pretty much any order with Roswell having better front runners and McIntosh having a stronger pack. Your guess is just as good as mine. but I would be remiss if I didn't point out that there are always surprises at state. And 5A always has a surprise or two. So I have to wonder who has the best chance of sneaking onto the podium and knocking off one of these 3 teams. I think if it happens it'll either be Chattahoochee or Milton. Both teams are coming on strong and might be underestimated in the virtual meets. So keep an eye on them 

Ga MileSplit Prediction
1. Pope
2. McIntosh
3. Decatur
4. Roswell