Class A State Meet Preview - Boys
Boys Team
Wesleyan is looking for its third State Championship in a row and enters 2011 as the favorite. Led by a solid pack of seniors (Bradley Gossett, Takim Williams, Doug Mohme, Austin Gritters, and Drew Sutton), look for Wesleyan to follow the same strategy that has helped them earn the last two State meet titles. Their pack will likely finish within a minute of each other and are hoping their depth of talent in their 4th through 7th runners will bring home the lowest score of the day. With such senior leadership and experience, Wesleyan is looking good!
As usual in Class A, there are some talented teams nipping on the heels of the favorites. First Presbyterian Day School has settled into GHSA and is looking to improve on last year’s 6th place finish. Led by Gray Lindley, Kenneth Reeder, and Christopher Phillips, FPD has the front runners to compete with the best of teams. Like Wesleyan, they are also strong through all seven runners and will be looking to mix in with the Wolves to pull off the upset.
Also nipping on the heels of the favorites are Galloway, Darlington, and Athens Academy. Galloway has been a season long favorite, having taken 5th place with a solid 1:26.24 team time at the UGA invitational. Led by freshman Reilly Friedman and senior Henry Calvin, Galloway has the front runners necessary to compete as a team. Darlington is led by Jesse Baker who also looks to compete for the individual crown. Having dominated the region 6-A meet (7 in top 14; 1:28.55 team time), Darlington will be hungry to improve on last year’s 7th place finish. Rounding out the top 5 competitors is Athens Academy. After staying on challenging courses for most of the season, Athens Academy has made a move of late. At Last Chance, they ran the AAAA race, finishing second with a team time of 1:28.01. They followed this up with a solid 1:26.57 team time at the Region 8-A meet. Led by Henry Dwyer, Kurt Crymes, and Adam Hearn, the Spartans could have the front runners and depth to sneak onto the podium Saturday.
Although Wesleyan is the favorite, any of these five schools could end up with the low score of the day. Regardless of what happens, the race for a trophy will be intense!
Boys Individual
The race for the individual title is as wide open as the race for the team championship. There are as many as six different runners who could take home the individual crown. The discussion for the individual title must begin with Cameron Thornton of Whitfield Academy. Having won the 2010 Cross Country title with a thrilling, improbable 800 meter kick, Cameron was foreshadowing what might occur in the spring track season. He has been slowed of late with a leg injury, but his talent and desire to win have been proven. Due to his ability to rise to the occasion in the big races, he enters as the front runner for the individual crown. That being said, Gray Lindley of First Presbyterian has proven recently that he can race with and, in fact, beat Thornton. In both the Last Chance Invitational (16:12) and the Region 9A championships (16:09), Gray handily finished ahead of the reigning Class A champ. If Thornton is favorite 1-A, then Lindley is 1-B. Look for a tough race between these two competitors.
Not to be left out of the conversation are Henry Dwyer of Athens Academy and Jesse Baker of Darlington. Dwyer has had a solid and consistent junior year. He has come on particularly strong the second half of the season, finishing 1st at the Wesleyan home meet (16:17), 2nd in AAAA race at Last Chance (16:22), and winning the region 8-A meet (16:30). Coming off a strong track season, Dwyer looks to have the strength and speed to compete with Lindley and Thornton. Jesse Baker has had an impressive and consistent senior season. With five races under 17:00 and a PR of 15:50 at the Asics Invitational, Baker is not afraid to run in the front of the pack. Like Dwyer, he has the ability to race with anyone.
Finally, you will likely see Bradley Gossett of Wesleyan and Josiah Jenkins of Athens Christian racing with the front pack on Saturday. Gossett has quietly had a consistent and impressive career. Finishing 11th in the state as a freshman, 7th as a sophomore, and 9th as a junior, Gossett has proven that he will bring his “A game” to the state meet. It feels as though it is the Wesleyan way to save a little extra for the biggest meet, so look for Gossett to make a big push on Saturday. Jenkins finished 5th at the State Meet last season and was on track to compete for the individual crown this season. However, a mid-season foot injury has slowed him down and limited his racing of late. However, there are rumors he will compete on Saturday and, if he lines up, he will be a contender. Don’t be surprised to see this gutsy competitor with the front runners.
Class A State Meet Preview - Girls
Girls Team
Even though Class A might have the smallest schools, the girls State championship might include the largest number of contenders for a spot on the podium! There are six girls teams who will be running to earn a state championship. It is nearly impossible to predict what will happen come Saturday.
Last year, Darlington surprised everyone to take home the State Championship. Amazingly, they did this without placing a single runner in the top 10! The secret to their success was a :39 split from the 1st through 5th runner. Although Ansley McDurmon looks to compete for a top 10 slot, Darlington will again bring a deep team to the state meet and will be looking for ride the same formula to a title. While McDurmon took the region 6-A individual crown, Lindsay Evans and the rest of the Lady Tiger top 5 finished within 45 seconds of each other. The region 6-A team champions prove that they are looking to ride their “pack” success to victory a second year in a row.
Like last year, however, the Tigers will have some stiff competition from their rivals. Landmark Christian and First Presbyterian Day will arrive Saturday with strong teams who will be competing for individual as well as team titles. Landmark Christian is led by title contender, Lindy Long, but also has plenty of depth following close behind her. There are six War Eagle runners capable of breaking 22:00 at State and they will need at least 5 to do so to be able to compete. From 2003-2007, Coach Thorn and Landmark Christian made a habit of winning State titles and will look to regain the title for 2011.
FPD finished as the Class A runner-up in their first year in the GHSA and look to rise one better in their second year. With easily the strongest 1-2 punch of any team, FPD has more depth than they brought with them last year. Like Landmark, they will need their 3-7 runners to close the gap. They have proven themselves at Berry, Wesleyan, Great American and the Region 9-A meet, but must bring it all on Saturday!
With 7 sophomore runners, Providence Christian has been ranked in the top 5 all season long. Taylor Tuttle has a legitimate shot at competing for the individual title while these talented 10th grade girls will be in the hunt for a podium spot.
New to the conversation, Wesleyan and Athens Christian might rise to the top. Wesleyan had a solid first place team performance at the Last Chance Invitational and followed that with winning the Region 5-A meet last week. Caroline Reed finished second in 19:41 and their 6th runner finished under 22:00. Like the boys, the Lady Wolves are peaking at the right time.
Like Wesleyan, Athens Christian seems to have gelled as a team for the end of the season. Although Destiny Jenkins has been struggling with a foot injury, she ran in the Clarke/Oconee championships and will hopefully be ready to compete on Saturday. With or without her, the Lady Eagles have seven runners who can go below 22:00. Obviously, they will benefit from having their senior front runner, but they will be in the mix regardless.
Girls Individual
Grace Tinkey of First Presbyterian returned for the Region 9-A championship to win the race and re-plant herself as the favorite for the individual title. Although she has been hobbled in the middle of the season, she has the experience and talent to win for the second year in a row. If she is healthy, the conversation turns to who will be the runner-up. However, if Tinkey falters, there is no shortage of runners who will be nipping at her heels.
After Tinkey. the batch of contenders must begin with another FPD runner, Victoria Coppage. Coppage has broken 20:00 in every race this season including an 18:38 at Great American. Coppage looks to improve on her 3rd place finish from 2010. Lindy Long of Landmark Christian is the other most likely candidate to race with Tinkey. Long and Coppage were competing in the Last Chance Invitational when they took a wrong turn. This disrupted their duel which they will hopefully return to on Saturday. Although Coppage gained the upper hand in the region 9-A championships, there is a sneaky suspicion that Long was saving herself for State. This race should be fun to watch.
Trailing the top 3 are Caroline Reed of Wesleyan, Ashley McDurmon of Darlington, Taylor Tuttle of Providence Christian, and Jessica Zalzman of Pinecrest Academy. With the weather forecast for perfect temperature, it will be likely that these girls will have to break 20:00 to earn a top 10 finish!