Eric Westog

Check out the top all time Georgia performances from the Brooks XC South Regional

Check out the top historic performances from the Nike Cross Regional Southeast

Check out the top historic performances from the various big out of state courses

Eric Westog of Mill Creek HS signed his scholarship with UGA last Friday 3/7 with the University of Georgia

CONGRATULATIONS Georgia on another outstanding year of Cross Country. For the 11th year in a row the Atlanta Track Club has continued its generosity with youth athletics and has agreed to sponsor TEAM GEORGIA by outfitting the top 15 boys and 15 girls who will run at the Footlocker South XC meet. The Footlocker South Regional will take place in Charlotte, NC on Saturday, 11/30 and is the precursor to the National XC Championships.  Team Georgia's Boys  WON the team competition at Foot Locker South in 2012 and will seek to defend that honor. Kevin Mills of Peachtree Ridge and Austin Sprague of St.Pius X were selected as 'Co Runners of the Year.

2013 is a year of parity for the largest classification in Georgia Cross Country. Both in team and individual races, there are no clear favorites in the way that has become the custom in recent years. Coaches will be busy doing quick scores in anticipation of the team outcome, even shooting video of the finish. This will be race for the ages..                                  

Avery Bussjager of Walton put on a clinic of front running after the first mile to cruise to victory the overall title in 18:19. Bussjager will be even money as a favorite to take the 6A Individual title.  Austin Sprague makes it 2 weeks straight being selected as a Runner of the Week All-Class. His win at Region 6 in 15:01 was just :04 slower than at Asics a few weeks earlier. Sprague is the man everyone will be chasing in AAA early Saturday in low 40's temps.  

On a brisk cool morning with temps in the mid to upper 40s at race time, Region 7 determined their champs and qualifiers for state. Kevin Mills of Peachtree Ridge won the overall title in 15:42 leading his squad to 2nd place. Mill Creek's boys came back strong from Coach Wood taking the team title placing 3 runners in the top 5 positions. The Ridge Girls easily won the girls title placing 5 in the top 11 as Addy Lippitt took the overall win in 18:37.  

 Wow, what a transformation the International Horse Park course has evolved into..? Known in the past decade as a fairly challenging layout has morphed into a very fast, benign course.  I walked the course back in 2005 and that woods 2-3 mile stretch was plain nasty, especially the hill that wound upwards increasing in elevation thru wide horse ruts..One can understand how changes were made to benefit horses and horsemen, but the course raced on today seems to definitely be much faster. A 'hot topic' this has been (per Yoda) what remains to be seen or heard from are savvy veteran coaches and their opinions/valuations of the 'new route'  Lauren Hovis (pictured) from Mill Creek won the Girls 'White Race'

This season, the course at Carrollton has ran slower, and may have been lengthened a few meters which should favor the 'strength' runners. At press-time, it has been discussed that mats may possibly be covering the many pavement crossings which has been a sore subject for XC purists as the growth of Carollton Schools has stirred the pot enough for a few schools willing to loan the mats they have to cover the pavement. This article will include 2A thru 6A State Previews only. The weather for raceday looks very promising at this time and bodes well for fast times  http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail3/USGA0096  6A...we have been saving the Best for Last, and here it is from Ga.MileSplit.com,  thanks to Pre1962 as expounds his unique and detailed breakdown for the Community....Ga.MileSplit.com and GATFXC would like to thank all the Rankers and Runner of the Week Committee members for the tough, time consuming efforts put forth this season to rank each class along with  contributing  articles and selections. This often is a thankless endeavor, as the Community is eager to differ on selections. We care about the kids, programs, coaches, fans and parents who support the programs and athletes. Good Luck to everyone in Carrollton and once again congrats to the Class A Winners, Podium teams, All-State individuals and volunteers that made it happen!

      The Nike-Fleet Feet Coach Wood Invitational delivered some classic racing as usual this Saturday at the Gainesville College Course. It was a best of the best fest, especially in the Championship Boys race and the Girls race was no slouch. This race was hyped and talked about the past few weeks and it must have been so great that it drained the energy of everyone there onsite from discussing it afterwards, lol. What ultimately was on display the 6A State is anyone's game and whoever 'has it, and wants it more' will be the State Champ...Austin Sprague focuses on the trail ahead of him.  

Here are the 'Runners of the Week' for the 6th week of competition. Please keep in mind, that the committee attempts to recognize different athletes for each month. Course difficulty and the level of competition is taken into consideration. In the photo is Kinsee Clevinger of darlington as she cruised to victory in the Small School race at Darlington.

The Berry Clara Bowl Invite once again robbed most of the attention this weekend with over 2000 runners and many ranked teams.  Here are some briefs on the 4 Major HS meets held this past weekend including the Mountain Eagle Invite(cover pic)

courtesy of Brandon Brigman GDP Josh Brickell is the Man to beat this Fall.   Gwinnett County Super 6-  http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2012/aug/09/daily-posts-cross-country-super-six/     Gwinnett County Team by Team- http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2012/aug/09/cross-country-preview-capsules/?sports     Photo Illustration: Brendan Sullivan/Nicole Puckett   Yost Reigns as Top Female- http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2012/aug/09/norcross-yost-takes-reigns-as-countys-top-runner/