It's October racing season, and many of you know how I feel about that. The biggest meet of the season in terms of size is happening tomorrow morning. Historically speaking, there have been some very fast boys and very fast girls who have competed at this meet and it's worth checking out what they did in the past. One of my favorite things about the historic rankings articles is that it allows kids to go back and look at where their time stacks up after the race, so be sure to revisit those after the race.
When thinking about a meet preview for this meet, I just want to point out that it's essentially a fool's errand when it comes to making predictions. What we have here is a giant blend of lots of podium contenders from several classifications in Georgia. And figuring out the team battle is...kind of a shot in the dark. Sure we have a couple of a favorites in Denmark favored on the boys side and some out of state schools favored on the girls side. But trying to see beyond that is almost pointless. It's gonna come down to who is feeling the best on the right day. So if you want to see a rough outline of how things could go, check out the boys team scores here and the girls team scores here.
Instead I'm going to focus on the individuals from Georgia who could mix it up in the front of this race. This is by no means a prediction article. We rarely have a real favorite in a meet like this, and there's often somewhere around 25-30 kids in each race who legitimately have a shot at a top ten finish. When you've got a field of almost 50 teams and 500 runners, it's just a giant group and whoever survives is the one who finishes well. It's a good skill to have, but I'm thankful our state meet isn't this crowded.
Boys Potential Impact Runners:
Gavin Quinn - Quinn has only raced once so far this year, but it was a good one. If he's healthy and ready to roll, he will almost certainly be up front. His best race of the year last year was at this meet and he's got 1:52 800m speed so nobody wants him to be around when it's time to kick.
Drew Woznicki & Camp Jennings - The Carrollton dup have been killing it so far this year and have already gone 1-2 on this course earlier in the year. so they'll have that leg up on everybody else. I expect them in the front pack all day and will be curious to see if either of them tries to make an early move to get the win or sits back and waits for he kick.
Luke Jordan - Jordan has been incredibly consistent this year and is coming off a fantastic runner up finish at Wingfoot that might be his best race so far in high school. So he's used to a crowded field up front and I expect him to try to get a signature win tomorrow.
Jackson Hunter - Hunter has been a little more low key this year, but he's definitely a runner who could find himself fighting for the win. He's never been one to shy away from big pressure moments and we've seen him be clutch before. I think he's going to be in that lead pack right away.
Chase Griswold - Griswold is still looking to find his form from last year. There have been glimpses of it, but I still don't think we've seen the best version of him yet this year. Could this be the meet where he takes that next step again and establishes himself a force to be reckoned with in class 5A?
Witt Windham - Windham is another runner who will be looking to make this race his signature win of the year. This may not quite be his super bowl for the season, but it's probably pretty close. He's going to be hungrier than most and based on how he's done so far this year, I expect him to make an impact.
Girls Potential Impact Runners:
Olivia Martin - Martin will be looking for a bounce back race after a clear off day at Wingfoot. But other than that she's been lights out this year and you usually see a bounce back from an athlete in a situation like this. I expect her to be up front tomorrow.
Cassidy King - King had a true breakout race at Wingfoot though and that shows she's comfortable racing well in a big field. She will get her opportunity tomorrow to do that again and prove that she's a contender for an individual state title this fall.
Reese Vagedes - Vagedes also had the best race of her life, so far, at Wingfoot. And as the freshman of the bunch being in the big field can be fairly intimidating. But she's not backed down yet and she's been getting better every week. Could she put the whole state on notice tomorrow morning with a win?
Caroline deButts and Jane Kiely - The Westminster duo is going to be up front as usual. They have been strong at both races so far this year. And while I'm not sure they have what it takes to get the win, they'll almost certainly be in the lead pack and could help their team with two top 5 finishes.
Olivia DiQuattro - DiQuattro has significantly stepped up her game this year and has gone from a top runner in her classification to a top runner in the entire state. She has an opportunity here to make sure everybody knows her name, if they don't already, with a big race and a top 5 finish.