Walton/Peachtree Ridge Stage Races Preview
About the event:
With about 25 teams confirmed for this weekend, the Stage Races will once again be the place to see the top teams in the state start their seasons. That being said, this is a unique format in cross country racing. 2 miles instead of a 5k, 5 varsity races instead of 1, boys and girls in the same races, a race starting every 15 minutes. For those not familiar with the format, each stage is run as its own race. The top finisher for a team in that stage gets the points. In this format, a perfect score is a 5 instead of 15. This will showcase some teams, while letting others get some racing experience without showing their hands just yet. It also makes for an exciting day of racing with nearly constant action.
Girls Team Preview:
8 of the top 11 finishers in last year’s AAAAA state final are here, including the top 5 finishing teams! North Gwinnett, Collins Hill, Brookwood, Parkview, Walton, Harrison, Roswell, Peachtree Ridge will all bring deep teams that are used to winning trophies. We may not know who the best team is yet, but we’ll get a great preview and see who put in the miles this summer.
Boys Team Preview:
More of the same with all the heavy hitters of AAAAA ready to go at it again. Parkview and Brookwood continue their rivalry, but they must compete with the other Gwinnett powers as Peachtree Ridge, Collins Hill, and Mill Creek join the Five Forks Trickum foes, representing all of the top 5 teams in the pre-season rankings. Add in Cobb County powers Walton and Harrison and you’ve got some of the deepest teams in the state racing to start the season.
Girls Individual Preview:
Part of the fun of the Stage Races is not knowing who will race in what stage. But you know you’ll see some of the top ladies in the state at some point. Depending on who is healthy, we hope to see North Gwinnett’s Laura Serres, Rose Howell, and Jordan Humphrey; Collins Hill’s Vicky Winslow, Chloe Witworth, and Sydney Williams; Maria Boff of Harrison, Sara Brown of Parkview, Alexa Womack of Walton, and whichever girls from Brookwood are healthy. No matter what, there will be some great head to head battles in each stage.
Boys Individual Preview:
Again we wonder who will run what stage, but you can bet there will be some great head to head competition. You can expect Parkview and Brookwood to have multiple runners in the top of every stage, but individuals from a dozen teams will make it interesting in all the stages. Alec Klassen and Steven Spevacek lead Parkview, Sean Brennan is the top returner for the Broncos of Brookwood, Peachtree Ridge is led by Matt Weickert and freshman phenom turned sophomore Josh Brickell, Mill Creek’s Austin Boetje, and Nat Estes of Harrison represent just a few of the top runners expected to speed around River Green.