State Preview
4AAAA
Girls Team Preview
Lakeside-Evans brings together an impressive resume: 9th at Great American, 2nd at Coach Wood (losing to Brookwood by 14 points and not at full strength), and an outstanding top 3. On paper it is very hard to imagine anyone running with them. If they are going to be challenged then it might come from Marist. Last year’s Champions and bringing their own resume to State including 4th at Coach Wood (short handed), Atlanta Classic Champs, and a solid top 3 of their own. These two teams have constantly all year held the top 2 spots in the 4A rankings and stayed all year in the All Class Rankings.
Whitewater and McIntosh have shown they have what it takes to stand inside the fence on Saturday. Whitewater was 4th at Asics (3rd McIntosh), 2nd at the Atlanta Classic (to Marist), and 1st at Fayette Co Champ. McIntosh was 3rd at Asics (Whitewater was 4th), 1st Sandy Creek, and 2nd at Fayette Co Champs. These two teams have traded a victory over the other this year and will battle it out to decide who will get the tie breaker.
Other teams that can challenge for the podium or a top ten finish are Lakeside-DeKalb (3rd Coach Wood, 10th Berry, 18th at Wendys). They have solid team and could give the others trouble. Lambert (4th at UGA and 11th at Coach Wood), Dunwoody (3rd Wesleyan and 5th at Gulf Coast), Alexander (1st Douglas County Champs), East Paulding (8th at Asics and 8th in Conyers, better than their region result shows).
4A girls are stacked this year with another half dozen teams that can sneak onto the podium if they have a great day and finish in the top ten. It has been nearly impossible to distinguish which team is better and when they have ran at full strength all these teams have looked impressive. Watch out for John’s Creek, Winder Barrow, Creekview, Union Grove, Rome, Pope, and Chapel Hill.
Girls Individual:
Can Anna Bowles repeat as champion? She is going to be hard pressed to accomplish this feat with a group of strong runners right behind her. Bowles’ teammates Katie Townsend and soph sis' Anna Bowles are going to be in the lead pack with Marist’s Kate Northrop and Sophie Harkins. Do not count out Lambert’s Allie Schaich who was third last year in 3A and hold the fastest 4A time this year at Wendys. Allie Buchalski was last year’s 3A champion and is going to try to win 4A. Lakeside-DeKalb’s Meghan Wetterhall last year’s 4A runner up is trying to go one better. This is such a closely packed race that it can go to anyone. Others to watch out for include Maddy Wetterhall from Chamblee, Jessica Hale of Pope, Ashley Taylor of North Paulding, Rachael Tierney of McIntosh, Rayna Green of Union Grove, and Amanda Cope of Winder among others.
Boys Team Preview
It was hard fought this year to find races where teams ran at full strength, but this year 4A is loaded with talented teams. On paper the race appears to be between two teams. Chapel Hill, who finished 11th last year in 5A, looks to be the favorite and brings an impressive resume into the race. They finished 2nd at Coach Wood, 15th at Great American, and won the Douglas County Championship. They are going to challenged by Marist, who won 4A last year, with their group of talented runners. Marist finished 4th at Coach Wood, 2nd in the Atlanta Classic, and won Region 6. These two teams have held the top spots in the rankings all year and have been listed in the all class rankings each week.
If Marist or Chapel Hill falters then Flowery Branch might be that team. Flowery Branch won 3A last year and looks to repeat in 4A this year. They finished 3rd at UGA, 5th at Coach Wood, and 5th at Wendys. Another team that will probably send inside the fence is McIntosh. McIntosh placed was 1st at Asics, won the Fayette County Championships, and won Sandy Creek. They bring a talented group that showed the reloaded from last year. You also can never count out the Lakesides. Lakeside-DeKalb has been running strong all year with a 1st at Coach Wood in the varsity race and a 9th at Wendys. Also, Lakeside-Evans was 13th at Great American and 12th at Coach Wood. These are 4 very talented teams that will run for the podium.
Other teams that can finish in the top ten include Dunwoody (3rd Wesleyan), Union Grove (8th Disney and 2nd Sandy Creek), Greenbrier, Kell (a top ten last year in 5A), Pope (4th Westover, 17th Coach Wood), Creekview (3rd last year in 3A), Southwest DeKalb (1st Red at Aubrea Gunderson), and Alexander.
Boys Individual:
The favorite in the boy’s race has to be Wade Voyles of Chapel Hill who has the top time in 4A this year and has consistently placed in the top of every race he has ran. After Voyles the race gets really interesting and there could be any number of finishers in the top ten. Voyles’ teammates Gaines and Eldredge, Kenny Slavik of Flowery Branch who was 9th last year in 3A and his teammate Riden, Ewing and Reynolds from Lakeside-DeKalb (Ewing was the runner up last year), Ulich from Chattahoochee, Marist’s duo of Weber and Selvey, McIntosh’s Reeves and Hort, Vaughn from Lakeside-Evans (who was 22nd last year), or Grant from Lambert. Last year the winner for 4A came in sort off the radar to win and following this trend some other runners that can make an impact at State include Demeunynck and Stormark from Pope, Wilder from Greenbrier, Romero from Kell, and Broadhead from Wayne County.