GHSA State Cross Country Championships 2013

Here is a map of the re-routed Carrollton Course. One familiar with the State course will notice the old extreme U-turn behind the finish line has been removed, instead now a straight shot to the largest hill on the course normally lined with fans.

The Marist Girls were too deep, very talented and very well rested for this race proving they are the 'best of the best' in Georgia as their top 5 all earned All-State honors crushing Heritage-Catoosa scoring 22 points. Morgan Ilse laid down the first Girls sub 19: time of the day just cruising to another 4A individual title in 18:57. 

A supreme display of gamesmanship was in play at the Region 6-AA meet, as Wesleyan and Westminster both sat their top 1-4? runners or more, perhaps outsmarting themselves, allowing Lovett to 'Carpe Diem' snatching the 1st place hardware. It's going to be a knockdown, dragout fight between these rival programs come Saturday afternoon. Defending champ Emma Garrison and Caroline Reed of Wesleyan could have a classic duel for the individual title.

Westminster's boys packed it in as usual and were too deep for Wesleyan to forge a challenge adding yet another state title to their resume. The Cats' pounced on 4 of the top 8 spots led by Individual champ Jordan Flowers. My darkhorse pick Marcus Gouthro from Riverside Military raised his game placing 2nd.

These are the final AA Rankings of the season pre-state. Understand, they are not predictions . AA this past Region week was the first time at the 6AA meet that the top ranked squads in the class rested their top 1-5 or more runners as Wesleyan and Westminster did.   Westminster held serve at 6AA besting Wesleyan by 13 points, but the gap between these 2 squads is actually wider than the points reflect. Riverside Military busted into the rankings for the first time this season! 

Note to all, these are rankings, not predictions for state.   The top girls teams held form and won or were solid 2nd in their respective region meets.  However, big shake-ups in the bottom half...The boys rankings are once again in turmoil.  Did teams temper their efforts?  How different were the course conditions?  Are their runners from the JV races that will be at state?  Lot's of questions...

Well that was an interesting week of racing. Harrison and Brookwood come in at 1-2 and both lose region, so who’s left? St. Pius after a good run on fast course? Unlike the boys, not much movement here. Coach Wood settled things and then region backed them up. The big change is that Heritage-Catoosa finally joins our ranks.

The ladies’ side has turned into a three team battle for the title with regionals behind us.  Northview has opened up a slight gap on #2 Dunwoody and #3 Lakeside-Dekalb. A once dominant Flowery Branch has watched its gap close as hungry teams like Clarkston, Northview, Greenbrier, Lakeside-Evans, and Sequoyah look to play spoiler. Greenbrier and Lakeside Evans' Boys had a war in 2-AAAAA coming down to the #6 man!

There still isn't much to go from except the stats database (16 boys squads and 13 girls)  and the Area 4 meet which we Timed, ala results posted quickly, lol!  (Warren County arrived after the start of the boys race) There may have been 40 parents faithfully attending the meet to cheer on their student-athletes, but they made some noise. For the boys Georgia Military moves up to #1 over Jenkins County based on course speed they pr'd on. (ACS is tougher than WACO's course, especially with the 1/4 hill loop back in place) Commerce moves up a spot after a decent performance at Area 4. Trion's Girls stay atop the rankings based on their Area 4 performance. Towns County bested both Commerce and Gordon Lee as well.  

St.Pius X Boys crushed it 6-AAA, leaving no doubts to their #1 All Class Ranking. Coach McClay has them Lions ready to go into overdrive at State. North Hall was hard on the boys competition at 7AAA. St.Pius X Girls continued to improve retaining their top ranking whipping Blessed Trinity (though average team times were close) There was some movement in the 7-9 spots for the Girls.   

Let me definitely state, these aren't predictions for Saturday's championship race and there has been significant movement..... There are a few teams who are 'unpredictable' and have been inconsistent that may 'rise up' or falter at Carrollton. For the Girls, Darlington stayed atop 1A and Providence Christian had a strong race on the tougher ACS course perhaps closing the gap enough to give the Lady Tigers a real race for the State title.  Landmark Christian's Boys surged to #1 after a strong win at Region 5-A, putting a bullseye on their backsides after lunch this Saturday. However, the Boys race is totally up for grabs in my analysis. Whoever brings it and leaves it, ALL on the course will emerge as the State Champ. 

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..                                  

This may be the only race with a clear favorite, oh wait, favorites. Peachtree Ridge and Brookwood have been the top two teams all season. Currently, Peachtree Ridge has a 2 to 1 advantage head to head, but by a combined 3 points margin of victory. If either or both the Lady Lions and Lady Broncos don’t have a good day, their lie some Lady Hoyas and Lady Blue Devils ready to pounce.  

A once dominant Flowery Branch has watched its gap close as hungry teams like Clarkston, Northview, Greenbrier, Lakeside-Evans, and Sequoyah look to play spoiler. Individually, it appears to be a duel between Logan Poteet of Kell and Christian Bowles of Lakeside-Evans.

The ladies’ side has turned into a three team battle for the title with regionals behind us. Overall, it’s been a fun and exciting season and can’t wait to watch all the drama unfold on Saturday. On the individual end, Lindsay Billings has established herself as a top-5 all-class runner with impressive recent performances at Coach Wood and region. Good luck to everyone who’s competing. 

A few weeks back, some would think Westminster was a lock to add another 1st place Cup in their huge trophy case. Wesleyan has picked it some at season's end, and ran well at 6-AA. The race for the boys individual title could come down to the final hill. Throughout the season, Jordan Flowers of Westminster has proven to be the favorite for the AA Boys overall title, but Matt Moratti of Wesleyan took the region 6-AA individual title.

With Area 2 Public reporting an hour ago, the picture has become clearer on what schools will contend for a state title. But don't count out some school from Area 1,3 coming out of the woods to make a run at a Podium spot. Most of these kids have not ran at a course like Carrollton, which will punish the flatlanders. From stats, it appears 3 runners have an opportunity to win the individual title.

The A Public Girls have the honor of racing last on what's sure to be a chewed up course with only meet officials, parents, their coaches and the timer left in attendance with the sun dropping behind the hill, elementary school getting their awards in near darkness (unless the lights are turned on across the street) The team race favors Area 4 champ Trion, defending champ Towns County. Indivdually it may be wide open as very few of these girls may have experience on the re-routed course. 

Can Lagrange give Marist a run for their money? We'll find out Saturday morning when they lineup and leave it all on the course. Cross country is a true team sport. Having one, two or even three front runners is important but so often championship races are won by the 4,5 runners. Can the Lagrange duo of Coggins and Bowie hang with the Marist duo of Thurston and Navarro? Of the top individual contenders, only Hakeem Mustafaa of Shaw has tested Carrollton this season rocking out a 16:33 at 'Ortho' nearly 8 weeks ago in hotter temps.

The Marist girls are undoubtedly the best team in the state of Georgia. They displayed their depth at Region, as their 6-12 girls 'perfect scored' the field thru the top 7 places!  However, the ladies from Heritage-Catoosa have done their best to close the gap this past 3 weeks, and if they come within 15-20 points of the War Eagles, Heritage-Catoosa should be in the top 5 'End of Season' All Class Rankings. Its going to a free for all for the next 5-6 team places. Morgan Ilse of Marist should run away unchallenged from the field with a flock of teamates behind her in the top 10.

The State meet will kickoff at 7:45am with the very competitve AAA boys race with power programs like St.Pius X, North Hall and Woodward. Its projected to be almost perfect conditions, Partly Cloudy at 40 degrees, with a ESE wind at 5mph. Expect to see alot of long sleeves..and some serious racing down the finishing hill for team points.

The AAA Girls of course will follow the Boys race and conditions at the bottom half of the hour will warm a few degrees as the sun rises over the trees, with the wind beginning to pickup to 7mph. Will Blessed Trinity push St.Pius X? Can anyone challenge Jenna Gearing of White County? 

What a completely different atmosphere the Class A Private championships will experience this Saturday at Carrollton compared to down in Macon (in the sticks) with thousands in attendance and racing between 6A/5A, wow! On the boys side, it seems as if there are 5 teams that have a great chance to win it all, which means the Championship will probably be decided by less than 5 points or less... Also means a really good team will get 5th and be left off the Podium. Reilly Friedman of Galloway will be looking to defend his crown in the individual race. 

Girls top 3 teams are pretty obvious, then the #4 spot seems like anyone could grab it!  Darlington has been ranked #1 since Week 4 and has improved steadily all season. On paper, this will be the most intense race in recent history for the Individual title as Tuttle, Foreman and Williams are the girls to watch from start to finish. The stage will be set as A Private races  between 6A/5A, who will be getting a 'Curtain Call'?   

St.Pius X made it 3 titles straight under young coach Ryan McClay scoring 26 points fighting off a strong team effort by North Hall with 46 points. The Lions entire top 5 placed in the top 9 spots eating up the firm turf. Austin Sprague was the overall champ  in 16:08 and was never challenged after the first mile creating a gap of up to 200 meters over Blessed Trinity's Matt Munns who placed 2nd in 16:39. 

What a magnificent race Blessed Trinity's girls had as they had taken it on the chin all season from region 6 rival and defending 2012 champ St.Pius and brought it when it mattered most with the first major upset of the day seizing the AAA title. Jenna Gearing was too strong for anyone after the first loop winning the AAA girls individual in 19:29 leading White County to a 3rd place Podium spot holding pace the entire race.

This was closer than most would have projected as Lagrange threw the gauntlet down and actually led Marist thru the first 4 runners giving defending champ and overwhelming favorite Marist a scare. Marist prevailed by just 17 points led by sr.Daniel Navarro who had an extremely rewarding race capturing the overall title clocking a 16:13. Hakeem Mustafaa will be on everyone's radar in 2014 Outdoor Track with his overall runnerup finish.

Was it ever a nailbighter in the AA girls race as Wesleyan outlasted region 6-AA rival Westminster by 2 points 43 to 45. Now we know why both squads rested their aces in preparation for this battle. But the decision was reversed and a tie declared by the GHSA recognizing co-Champions. Emma Garrison from Union County defended her 2012 Individual title placing 1st in 19:10 as she steadily increased her lead throughout the race and winning by over 200 meters. Freshman Serena Tripodi of Lovett shocked many of the top contenders placing 2nd in 19:37. 

Never doubt that Coach Dehnke's Brookwood squad isn't going to bring it at State. The Broncos have bounced up and down in the rankings all season, but on the biggest stage ran well enough to take the AAAAAA title with 101 points. Closest team race in history as 28 points separated 1-5. Back in  2007 only  21 points separated 1-5! Fun to watch...Kevin Mills was a man among boys running tall to his first state title.

Round 4 of the heavyweight 6A programs Brookwood and Peachtree Ridge didn't disapoint. The anticipation built as results were compiled with Peachtree Ridge's depth making the difference for a 12 point margin of victory. Soph Avery Bussjager of Walton HS won her first 6A state title in 19:04.