Sep 05, 2025

Well it's been a great break in the hot weather, and everybody who raced last weekend benefitted from it with some fast early season times. Someone always gets lucky early in the season, and this year it was those who chose to race labor day weekend. This upcoming weekend doesn't look like it will be quite as cool. It looks like the heat is returning some and we should get some warmer races again for a couple of weeks before the real fall weather hits. Overall though we really can't complain about the weather in 2025. This spring might have been the best weather ever during track season, the one exception unfortunately being the weekend of the state meet. Then the summer wasn't too bad, July and August provided some usual hot days, but not nearly as many as other years, and now it looks like we're headed towards the cooling off we're used to and always hoping for. Expect October races to be filled with cooler temps and fast times, as long as we don't get the random 100+ degree days to start October like we got in 2019.

Ok, enough about the weather, because the main meet this week isn't going to be fast anyway. Nobody goes to Carrollton to race at OrthoWest because they expect to go home with lots of PR's. Instead they go there to get a preview of the state meet course. And, quite honestly, that's a smart move with how many different versions we've had over the years. You never know when Carrollton will throw us a curveball and make some adjustments that make the course a little faster or a little slower, potentially affecting the team strategy going into state.

Top 500 Historic Times From OrthoWest Invitational

So coming into this meet the headliner is West Forsyth versus Denmark to see who the early season favorite is in 6A. On paper West has the advantage, but Denmark is the defending champion which when combined with hitting the freshman lottery gives them enough swagger to compete. But of course it's possible neither of these teams gets the win. Oconee County has been looking good and has a chance to prove they're amongst the best in the state all class. But the 4A boys team battle is also very interesting as we have four of those contenders in the mix here with Jones County, Westminster, Pace Academy, and Starr's Mill - who won this meet last year. Any of those teams could win this thing but I think West will probably come out on top as long as nobody is taking any standardized tests this weekend. Individually there are some names missing that could have made this meet very exciting, but instead I think there's an obvious favorite in Aaron Brodrick who might be looking to put up something fast early on in the season as he's been lights out so far.

On the girls side it's likely the be the Marietta show, as usual. I don't know if there's anybody who can contend unless half of their girls are taking a test or doing a tempo run instead. And even then...they could still win. But contending for the podium are some strong teams with Starrs Mill, Bleckley County, North Gwinnett, and Hillgrove. But the most intriguing part of this team batter is Dunwoody versus Creekview to see who the favorite in 5A is this year. Individually it should be a blow out from Averi Lowen who is somehow even better than last year and looks to be on pace to be the GOAT in Georgia girls distance running. I really don't doubt anything that she might do as she's already reset the bar so many times in the last year, that I'm not going to even try to pretend I know what she's capable of.

Our other fairly big meet this weekend in the Milton Invitational, held on what might be the hardest course in the state of Georgia. Some would argue it's actually better state meet prep than running the state course. Who knows. On the boys side it looks to be a tight battle between North Atlanta, Cherokee, and Lakeside. But I believe the home squad at Milton is close enough to the top that their home course advantage will be enough for them to get the job done. Individually Cabell Townsend, Andrew Bitsko, and Will Chambers should duel it out on the course. On the girls side the Pope girls should run away with this thing to assert their continued dominance over the state while the Milton girls should perform well too. I definitely expect a really good individual battle with Ella Alberici and Josie Hutchinson for the win, with a few other girls lurking, mostly Pope runners.