This Saturday, 25 schools will be competing including top Ranked Boys squads Walton, Marist, Norcross, Peachtree Ridge, Pope, Flowery Branch, Wheeler and Parkview. The Girls race should be very exciting as well featuring 2012 5A Champ Walton, perennial 4A Champ Marist, always loaded Peachtree Ridge and Parkview and Stage Race champs Roswell....
Boys- This may be one of the closest races in recent history this early in the season with Norcross, Walton and Marist. Norcross was impressive at Mercy last Saturday, however throw in Daniel Navarro (who competed in the JV race) and it was a dead heat. Marist was very fast this early in the season compared to recent squads..Walton competed at the Stage Races and look for them to run hard this week. This will be Peachtree Ridge, Parkview's and Pope's first race of the year. Flowery Branch and Wheeler both ran well last week and North Oconee will get a chance to run with the big boys this week..
Josh Brickell of Peachtree Ridge will be the favorite in the race individually and will be going for 3 UGA titles in a row. Others to watch will be Arman Rehmann and Nick Delguercio of Norcross, the Marist duo of Michael Thurston and Daniel Navarro, Adel Yoonis and Emmanuel Juarez of Wheeler, Patrick Fleming of Pope and Brian Sullivan of Walton.
Girls- Walton and Roswell should be the definitive favorites for the team race after their mini-battle at the Peachtree-Walton Stage Races as Roswell came out on top. Peachtree Ridge andParkview will be stretching their legs for the first time this Fall and figures to battle for a top 5 team spot. Flowery Branch ran well as a team at NEGA were a pre-season #3 pick in 5A. Marist can never be discounted and they are very deep with many of their JV girls being top 7 anywhere else. Lowndes will have an opportunity to prove if they belong in the top 10 of 6A making a rare trip to metro-northeast ga hotbed of cross country.
Katherine Yost of Norcross will be the woman to beat individually after her dominant win at the Mercy Invite. Alexa Womack and plus a trio of super sophomores in Sara Hardin, Avery Bussjager and Christie Sanders figure to be in the mix for Walton. Morgan Ilse of Marist finished behind Yost last week. For Roswell Peyton Thomas and Morgan Green figure to be in that first chase pack. Addy Lippitt of Peachtree Ridge, Megan Charbeneau of Lowndes,
Its a light week of racing otherwise this Labor Day weekend there are 3 other prominent races
11th Annual Fall Run Away MS Meet- Hosted by East Jackson HS will have 9 schools and 345 athletes competing in 2 races. Athens Christian will be a favorite to win both races with Habersham County contending. Coaches Association Prez Tomy Sitton is the Meet Director in this fun event.
Landmark Cross Country Invitational - Legendary Coach, Bill Thorne is hosting the first meet in years at Landmark Christian just off their main campus starting and finishing on the old Cinder track of Garwood Stadium. Full, no repeat, loop, finishing on the 'Cinder' track with spectator friendly viewing. Some competitive squads out of the 9 team meet are Landmark, Our Lady of Mercy, Mount Paran and McEachern.
Bleckley County 2 Mile Classic- Held at venue of the Georgia MS State Championships, HS and MS run the same trek. Many central Georgia and Houston County teams traditionally compete at this meet.