Or you can go check out some of our other coverage like the most Improved Athletes from State or vote on the best performance from the state meet:

Most Improved

Boys Results Merge | Girls Results Merge

Boys Best Performance Vote | Girls Best Performance Vote

Ok. On to the recaps. The 5A races were some of the best I've seen out of this class. I went in expecting fireworks and that's exactly what I got and it was so much fun. 

5A Girls 

Oh my goodness, I was not ready for this race. I think I was genuinely jumping up and down watching the final 400m having no idea what was going to happen. But let's go back and set the stage. Coming to the main hill for the first time, about 1000m into the race, I was intrigued. I kind of expected to see Pope's trio/duo already dueling with Liliana Beemer. But that's not what was happening. Instead Chloe Cummings was clearly determined to take charge in this race, and she took the lead early and led for basically the entire first lap. Pope was clearly content to let somebody else do the work as their trip just stalked her the entire first lap. But what was interesting was Beemer was clearly talking them. She was content to give them a gap and just keep her eye on them throughout the first lap. Not what I predicted, but I thought it would lead to a thrilling 2nd lap. And yet when I saw them come out from the two mile, it still wasn't the battle I was expecting. Beemer was still back from Pope's trio of Aislynn Dunn, Josie Hutchinson, and Louise Delgado who were basically just running three wide for a large portion of this race. Even when they came out of the woods I wasn't convinced Beemer was ever going to catch them. But then she did, and by separation slope it was down to the 3 girl race I was expecting. It took much longer to manifest, but this is what we were all there for. Did Beemer time this thing perfectly? It was starting to look like it, which was a surprise after feeling like maybe she wasn't going to have enough to catch them. And then the final hill happened, and it was pure cinema. First Beemer went, then she was covered by Dunn. Hutchinson was right there and I thought that the kicker who had won the most this year was going to get the job done in the final sprint. Instead Beemer struck back and as they headed down the final hill and hit the flat it looked like Beemer had it and Dunn wasn't going to have enough. And yet she found something in that final little stretch before the tape and was able to raise her arms in celebration as she captured the state title. It was the best finish of the weekend and all three of them should be commended for a great race. Delgado held on for a strong 4th place while Kate Rytlewski was able to sneak by Cummings in the final stretch to give Pope four of the top five places.

So yeah, Pope won the team race. They controlled the entire race and it was a strong showing by a team who had some slight bumps in the road along the way. And yet this might have been an even stronger performance than last year. They're very well poised to make a run at the win again next year as they only graduate Hutchinson and they had the fastest 7th runner in the race. They're going to be very dangerous yet again, what a team. Behind them it was a really close battle between John's Creek, Creekview, and Decatur. These teams all went back and forth all day but in the end John's Creek came away with the runner up trophy while Creekview and Decatur ran really well to land on the podium. 

5A Boys 

Well, sometimes you just have a plan and execute it perfectly. And that's exactly what Andrew Bitsko did. It was obvious from the gun that he was there to follow Malachi Burnett the entire day and planned on out kicking him. In a situation like that you really need to have trust in your finishing speed, especially on a course like Carrollton where there are several places you can kick. Burnett took the race out at a solid pace but there were several runners still with him the first mile. One by one the runners dropped off until it was a two man race. Carson Dobur was keeping things close and the chase pack included a few runners who wanted to pick them off. But it did look like there were only two runners competing for the win by the two mile. Bitsko just stalked him the whole way. And when he went, he went. I can't remember the last time I've seen such a ferocious kick at Carrollton. He was absolutely flying as he crossed the road after separation slope. He was not going to be denied and just had another gear that I don't know if anybody could have matched it this weekend. It was something truly special. Burnett had no response, but still held on for a very solid runner up while Dobur held serve in 3rd place. Behind them Waylon Vaughn and James Daniel battle for top team points as they were split by Levi Howard who had a strong performance as a sophomore staying with the big boys all day long. In the end, this was Andrew Bitsko's day and anybody who watched it had to come away knowing there was no doubt who the best runner in that field was on that day. 

In the team battle Clarke Central gave it a valiant effort, and probably had their best race of the year. They're a great team who has given it their all at state recently, but again had to settle for runner up. Because Creekview was just too good this year. They had just a phenomenal season, likely inspired by Burnett's incredible junior year. And while this race may not have been perfect, they made sure they did enough to secure the win with a tight 3-5 pack that got the job done. I definitely had to do some counting as they came up the final hill, but there was no doubt in my mind who the winner was going to be after I saw them at the two mile. They just ran well and held on in the final mile to win a huge state title for their school. Pope boys had probably their best race of the season as well taking a very impressive 3rd place behind the two 5A powerhouses. And Lakeside used Bitsko's performances to springboard themselves into the top 4 and go home with the final team trophy. It was a great day of racing all around and a ton of fun to watch.