Cross Country team rankings are one of the most fun things to pay attention to in our sport. Unfortunately it's hard to rank everybody based only on head to head battles as teams are often missing athletes. In some ways it can be a little bit better to rank based on PR's, but obviously some courses are faster than others. So if a team has only run slow courses, they'll be farther down the rankings. And most importantly, things change so much week to week that doing "old school" subjective rankings in the year 2026 doesn't seem to be the way to go. So instead I've opted for more of a Status Report or a "check in" of a couple of classifications each week this year. This is meant to take a more holistic approach to what things are looking like in each classification as we get closer to the state meet. It is NOT a perfect ranking that takes every single detail into account, but more looking at teams overall rather than nitpicking good or bad races.
Coach Wood will be very helpful in sorting some of this out. But until then, below I have updates to my original course checks from earlier this season.
10/15 Update - There is no favorite here anymore. You can certainly make a case for Denmark. You can make a case for Carrollton. And you can make a case for Harrison. Feel free to do so if you really want to. But I'm not going to do that as things are way too close. And I'll actually go a step further and say that this is at least a 6 team race. West Forsyth is not only the defending champions, but they've not run on as fast of a course as the 3 listed as the top teams in the virtual meet. Richmond Hill took the win at Wingfoot over one of the 3 top teams. And I'll go ahead and say Brookwood is basically in the same boat as West Forsyth and was basically even with Harrison at Great American. This race is crazy exciting and I don't think there is one single favorite. We've had some fun years in this classification with multiple favorites before, but I'm not sure I've seen it like this in a while. At least two teams are going to go into this race thinking they can win and go home without a trophy. That's intense, and I think we will all feel that tension when they get lined up. Hopefully no recalls on the start though. Other podium contenders include Mill Creek, North Gwinnett, Walton, Etowah, and Northgate. On paper, I don't really see any of these teams getting a trophy. However, we don't run the race on paper. and history tells me that at least one of them will. Which one? your guess is as good as mine, but I do think that it will probably happen as 3-4 of the big 6 teams go for the win and fade, leaving an opening for one of the other contenders to get onto the podium in their place.
The Favorite - This is a situation where we have a clear early favorite, and then a jumbled mess behind them. Denmark leads the way this year in every way you can look at things. They have the fastest team average right now, the lowest team score in the virtual meet, and they are undefeated on the year, winning their meets in very comfortable margins. They have a 1-2 punch that can rival almost anybody and a 4-5 that nobody has come close to matching yet this year. They're not so far gone yet that they have things wrapped up, but they've definitely established themselves as the front runner.
The Contenders - Behind Denmark is truly a toss up. There are at least four teams who could lay claim to being the 2nd best in 7A and Denmark's biggest rival. In my opinion the most dangerous team is Carrollton. I think Carrollton shocked us all with their incredible performance at state last year, and while they didn't return everybody from that team, they certainly are trying to make up for it with a younger group ready to fill in. Not to mention the state meet is on their home course. This team could definitely threaten Denmark on the right day, but for now they're still back in the pack with the others. West Forsyth is another dangerous team, as the defending champions who are ranked well on paper. They obviously know how to perform at the state meet and should not be counted out. They graduated a good bit but seem to be finding their stride. They were more dominant last year at this time, but don't count out a team who gains team like they appear to be doing. Harrison has been in the mix here for years now. And so far there seems to just be something missing from the usual flashiness they've shown in recent years. But they could just be opting for a slower start this year, and the talent on this squad runs really deep. I could see them easily finding themselves as the top contender for Denmark in a few weeks, so let's just hit the pause button on them for the moment and circle back in October. And finally Richmond Hill is the black sheep of this group. They're not metro Atlanta and they're kind of the new kid on the block. Even though they've had some good performances at the state meet in recent years, this team appears to be something different. They've stepped up their game and could find themselves near the top step of the podium when it's all said and done.
The Chasers - Behind those four teams we've got an excellent mix of some of the staples of this classification in terms of trophy contenders. Marietta and North Gwinnett have shown to be maybe the next two on the list, but this varies from week to week. Brookwood and Walton could both have a reason to believe they're in the mix as well. And a few teams like Mill Creek, South Forsyth, and Hillgrove could be one good race away from vaulting themselves into the trophy conversation. It's definitely too soon for any state meet predictions, but for now these are the 3 different tiers of teams in class 7A boys.
10/15 Update - Yeah, we've got two favorites again. Marietta is 2-1 this year against Harrison but the virtual meet has Harrison on top. You can make an argument for either team here. But I'm going to stick with Marietta as the favorite still. Harrison has closed the gap from where I saw things 6 weeks ago, but I still lean towards Marietta. Nothing against Harrison who is probably the only team in 7A who can beat Marietta, but it's hard to doubt Marietta. Until somebody beats them at state, something that hasn't happened since before Covid, I'll stick with them as the favorites for now. The real interest is what's happening behind them. My next two contenders at the moment are teams who I originally had as chasers. Richmond Hill looked great at Wingfoot and then Mill Creek looked potentially even better at Brian Robinson. Did these two just become the favorites for the last two trophies at state? I think they might have. Walton and West Forsyth are still right there and capable to grabbing a trophy too. So nothing changes there. But the podium chase got more crowded here. And, honestly, Richmond Hill could score the monster upset if they can have somebody step up in a big way at 5th runner in Carrollton. I do see it as Marietta-Harrison battling for 1-2 and Mill Creek and Richmond Hill battling for 3-4. But like I said with the boys, we don't run the race on paper. The fact that I see it that way almost guarantees it won't end up that way. And that should get Walton and West Forsyth hungry to prove me wrong.
The Favorite - We've got a favorite on the girls side yet again this year, and yet again it's Marietta. What can I say that hasn't already been said. This is the best girls program in the state over the last decade and it's really not even close. I've made the mistake of underestimating this team before when they maybe didn't look as dominant. I won't be doing that again. They're not perfect, but they look good so far and they've got plenty of swagger already. I will not be betting against them until somebody gives me a really good reason to do so. Injuries can always derail a season so I'm not ready to crown them, but for now I'll trust them to continue to be the favorites this year.
The Contenders - This is where things get interesting. As much as it's been impressive that Marietta has been so good for so long, Harrison has unfortunately been playing 2nd fiddle to them for a good chunk of that time. Harrison has had some amazing teams who probably deserved more recognition than they got, it's just hard to be in Marietta's shadow. They could definitely break free at some point, and they could have the horses to do it this year as we recently saw at OrthoWest. You never know when a big PR at an early October meet can change the team title race significantly. Walton is kind of the opposite team to Marietta and Harrison as they don't have the super star front runners, but their pack is very tight which makes them dangerous if either of the other teams have somebody have an off day. And if their pack times things right at state, it could be the team that scores a huge upset. I debated putting West Forsyth in this tier or the next one, but I will leave them as a contender for now. The main reason is that they showed quite a bit of improvement in their most recent meet. And any time a team is hitting their stride that makes them dangerous.
The Chasers - I like what I've seen so far for Richmond Hill and North Paulding. These are two newcomers on this kind of stage on the girls side of things, but it's been a good start for both of them. Mill Creek and North Gwinnett will also be looking to make a name for themselves as a contender this season if they can improve just a little bit. And Hillgrove has had a couple of solid results that keep them in the mix as a team as well.
Cross Country team rankings are one of the most fun things to pay attention to in our sport. Unfortunately it's hard to rank everybody based only on head to head battles as teams are often missing athletes. In some ways it can be a little bit better to rank based on PR's, but obviously some courses are faster than others. So if a team has only run slow courses, they'll be farther down the rankings. And most importantly, things change so much week to week that doing "old school" subjective rankings in the year 2026 doesn't seem to be the way to go. So instead I've opted for more of a Status Report or a "check in" of a couple of classifications each week this year. This is meant to take a more holistic approach to what things are looking like in each classification as we get closer to the state meet. It is NOT a perfect ranking that takes every single detail into account, but more looking at teams overall rather than nitpicking good or bad races.
Coach Wood will be very helpful in sorting some of this out. But until then, below I have updates to my original course checks from earlier this season.