GISA State Meet @ LCA 2013

GaMileSplit wanted to know, Gratis and George Finch (MS State Champ) came to check it out as well. How good is Kaleb McLeod of Trinity Christian...He's pretty dang good, and very humble. Kaleb proved on this day, he belongs in the conversation with GHSA's best including Mills, Sprague, Dunlap, Woodrome, etc, etc.. Foot Locker South will be his opportunity to run with the 'Big Boys' Trinity's boys had no competition and would have given any AAA team trouble including Southland as they easily took the AA team title back to Dublin.

The AA Girls race was a one woman show put on by Valwood's Mary Alice Smoot as she attacked the LCA course all alone (much like Kaleb McLeod) with her coach/father former Valdosta State coach Todd Smoot urging her on posting a 19:53  Westminster Christian from Oconee County easily won the AA Girls team title as their was a battle royale for 2nd between 3 schools separated by 5 points.   

Top finishers from the GISA AAA Girls Race. Ruthie Powell of the Heritage School is the champ.

Mary Alice Smoot is the AA Girls Champion. Here are the top 20 or so finishers.

Adam Downs of Westminster Schools of Augusta is the Champ.

It was quite a dual between Ruthie Powell of The Heritage School and tiny Jodie Holodak of Augusta Prep for over 2 miles as ran as if attached to the hip before the street crossing before Powell began to slowly power away on the long hill taking the Individial state title posting the top Girls time of the meet in 19:43  has Mount De Sales been hiding this season?  The Cavaliers fended off higher ranked teams capturing the AAA Girls team championship.

What a race! Both teamwise and individually on a briskly cool morning with perfect condtions on the more challenging LCA course. LCA did a great job hosting the championship as Evan Downs of Westminster Augusta snaked his way past 8 runners after the mile mark winning the Individual title and Southland's boys seized the team title.

Finish of the top AA boys.

When it comes down to GISA Girls AA, it reminds me a little of A Public in GHSA. With the exception of a few talented girls and a program or two, the level of competition drops off extremely from the larger AAA schools. The participation numbers are fairly low, like A Public girls, and regions reporting results is 50%. But, Regions 2 and 3 gave us something to analyze. The girls team race is up for grabs and Mary Alice Smoot is primed to win the individual title.

The AAA girls team competition should be extremely competitive, with three teams near the top all season: Mt de Sales, Stratford (who is the defending champ), and Holy Spirit Prep of Atlanta. I would not count out The Weber School, Augusta Prep and Westminster Augusta. In the AAA girls competition, Ruthie Powell from Heritage should be the heavy favorite. Deerfield's Virginia Moore and Mt. De Sales' Jessy Tallent also have run very well of late.

For AAA boys, Mt. DeSales graduated its top 3 runners from last years championship team that edged Heritage by a handful of points. The teams that finished 2-3-4 last year (Heritage, Southland and Augusta Prep) should compete fir this years team title. Heritage seems to have an edge in depth based on head to head results this season. The course is a technical 2 loop course with a start and finish on the football field grass. The course runs the perimeter of the campus and through mulch and leaf trails in the woods behind the athletic fields. The campus course is though without any major hills.

In the A/AA boys, the McLeod brothers (Kaleb and Jacob) have been dominant this season along with Jacob Burgamy of Brentwood. Expect Trinity Christian-Dublin to easily win the team title in A/AA. Trinity defeated (Southland) by 9 points at Darton on October 12. Trinity would also be tough to beat if in the AAA race.  The course is a technical 2 loop course with a start and finish on the football field grass. The course runs the perimeter of the campus and through mulch and leaf trails in the woods behind the athletic fields. The campus course is though without any major hills.

  Sign in (via YouTube)  LCA State Course Video for GISA State Championship. Course has alot of winds and tight turns in the shady woods slowing things down.  No tough hills/elevation changes like Carrollton, Double Dip or Nash Farms.  But an interesting course nonetheless. Good job on the video!

  Here is the re-designed LCA Course map for the 2013 GISA State Cross Country Championships. Its a 2 loop course that runs slower than what was contested on a few weeks back.