Alex Cameron

CONGRATULATIONS Georgia on another outstanding year of Cross Country.  For the 10th 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, 11/24 and is the precursor to the National XC Championships.   

One had to be there to appreciate all of these races as they unfolded on a beautiful Fall Day in NW Georgia. The conditions for racing were best before noon, but that mean little addition to the State Course, now to be known infamously as 'Separation Slope' uuugh...took its toll on the weaker runners and the strong thrived on its presence extending leads that could not be challenged.  Wesleyan's and Brookwood's Girls seized upon opportunity and cashed in with State titles. Josh Brickell once again displayed he is 'The Man' in Georgia HS Cross Country choosing this year just to stone everyone early and cruise.  This article will expand Sunday and Monday with full photo galleries and a "Winners Gallery" from Pinion Photography. Pictured is Brickell as he cruised on in to the 6A Title. Image by Pinion Photography  'Separation Slope' will be revered and cursed by many.....

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!

Pictured is the Lead Pack in the Boys Race of Champions at The Asics Invite. This event produced 8 ROWs for Week 8. Pictured 6th from the left is 5A ROW Sidney Speir of McIntosh.  Image by Pinion Photography

                                              This report is going to be incomplete due to an issue at Warpath (waiting for Final results revision). However, it was a great week of racing again. The Ortho at Carrollton wasn't as loaded in recent seasons due to risng popularity of a few other races like Warpath at Boling Park, Eagle Invitational, Greyhound Invitational and of course the Roy Benson Double Dip at Marist. The Ga.MileSplit MS Challenge provided some good racing as well. Once again the Carrollton State Course makes waves as it was lengthened (it seems) and was measured on the tangents (shortest possible route) compared to down the middle. It seems due to a NFHS rule change...  

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)

        Great Weekend of Cross Country headlined by The Clara Bowl at Berry, Covered Bridge Run, Mountain Eagle Invite and1st Annual Panther XC Invite. Berry is a monster of a meet with over 80 schools and 2036 runners entered and provides a good checkmark for teams early in the season. After a light Labor Day weekend of racing almost all of the ranked programs in each class will be battling it out in these 4 meets. Weather for this Saturday currently is forecasted to be a bit cooler with highs in the Mid 80's, Lows around 60, 10mph SSW winds and a 50% chance of scattered T-Storms. Hopefully many of you can get some great photos to post on the site at each venue.....  

           Sidney Speir and Brad Hort of McIntosh torching Clinton Farms Image by Christine Speir How many late August XC races have produced 4 sub 16 times in the Boys races and a sub 18 Girls performance? Granted, the weather was very kind until about 11am and almost all the athletes surely took advantage. Anyone who's not new to the Sport, knows the Bob Blastow layout at Clinton Farms is a fast trail, but NEGA and the Our Lady of Mercy course both got torched as well. The River Green Parkway also has a reputation as a fast and flat course (venue of the 2 Mile Stage Races) Westminster hosted the Kosh Classic and that course has a rep as being tough...

Alex Cameron (Dunwoody) takes the Gold Medal in the 2000 Steeplchase and rising Frosh Savannah Carnahan (South Forsyth) placed 5th in the USATF Junior Olympics National Championships in Baltimore last week.

This was a great meet  held at Starrs Mill's Panther stadium which produced some outstanding times and marks with the the top 6 from finals qualifying to the Regionals in Newport News, Virginia on July 5-8 Middle School age Recap coming soon....

Molly Schenck leads the 4A 3200 early as l-r: Sarah Bowles, Alex Cameron and Allie Buchalski stalk close behind/ Image by Pinion Photography Here are some huge highlights thus far: State RECORDS broken: Kendall Williams 13.39 in the AAAA 100h Prelims and she was flawless Kendell Williams AAAA Long Jump 20-08.50 MLK 4x100 Relay 45.69 Torie Owers Athens Academy 46-08.50 A Shot Put Sydney Rodkey North Oconee 12-01.00 AA Vault (briefly held the all-class record) Megan Clark Columbus 12-02 AAA Pole Vault (new all-time State meet record) Ashley Ivey Washington County AAA Triple Jump 44-07.50 Anasteria Terrell Howard AAA Triple Jump 44-04.50 Holly Ebbets Lee County AAAA Pole Vault 11-06 Anna Dunn Creekview AAAA Pole Vault 11-06 Going into Saturday: A- Wesleyan has a huge lead over ACS who has alot of points out on the track and with a good performance can pass Wesleyan. AA-Westminster and Blessed Trinity did well in the Field and distance races , however, will it be enough to hold off GAC, Decatur and SE Bulloch although Fletcher is a shoe in to take the 800m over a game Bailey Willet of BT. AAA- Monroe Albany is in good position to hold off everyone else barring their baton drop in the 4x100 prelims 15 meters before the finish line... AAAA- SW DeKalb is right where they want to be going into Saturday. AAAAA- Is wide open, Brookwood did well in the distance events as did kennesaw in the Field, but MLK and Walton are primed to put up big points Saturday. Distance Finals- A 1600- Victoria Coppage pounded the track taking it out early and was just too strong for ACS's Destiny Jenkins turning in a11:00 5:02 which bests Grace Tinkey's pr! A 3200- Coppage had to make runningmate Grace Tinkey (injured) proud as she took it and and maintained a steady gap over Landmark's Lindy Long for an impressive victory and time in 11:08! AA 1600- Sahara Fletcher's 400m split was 1:07 breaking 14 other runners and she never looked back cruising to the win in 5:05.Anna Gandolpho was the sole runner who tracked her the entire race from about 40-50 meters back finishing in 5:20. AA 3200- Anna Gandolpho breezed to victory in this race clocking a 11:35 followed by Westminster's Janine Dupree in 12:06 who held of Gandolpho's runningmate for 2nd (Kate Beechum of BT in 12:08) AAA 1600- Kristina Delpesche of Columbus and Jessie Dotson of White County battled for 3 laps until Delpesche put the hammmer down the final 300m for the win in 5:12, Dotson hung in there though for 2nd in 5:16. AAA 3200- It was a classic duel as headlined between Eagle's Landing frosh Gabby Roth and senior Jessie Dotson of White County for 6 laps but Roth's young legs were the key as she mad e a slight move and held her ground the final few laps for the win in 11:30 as Dotson took second in 11:36. AAAA 1600- This was a beautiful race defining what the sectionals were all about resembling a collegiate race until Alex Cameron of Dunwoody made her move separating from the pack looking very strong and had more footspeed the final 300 meters enroute to victory in 5:03 with Buchalski of John's Creek placing 2nd in 5:09. AAAA 3200- Allie Buchalksi built a lead of 15-20 meters going into the bell lap but frosh Morgan Ilse of Marist pushed the race to the brink down the stretch in a true photo finish with Buchalski out leaning her in 11:00.06 for a .31 margin of victory. this was a great race.... AAAAA 1600- Brookwood ran this race to perfection, as if the maestro conducted a torrid symphony to a perfect ending...Kissell and Shanks bided their time behind the leaders hanging in there and then both girls made big moves the final lap to go 1,2 as Caroline Kissell took the win in 5:00 with teamaate Shanks in 5:02. AAAAA 3200- Another great tight race as for thwe first 5 laps 5 girls were tightly bunched together, but Lassiter's Marcie Merriman, desevedly so, put it together making a move creating some separation and held off rachel Thorne of Alpharetta for the win in 10:51 to Thorne's 10:54. I would like to make an editorial comment about the staff in Albany...These people put on a great meet. Field Events are Field Events and sometimes drag out, but man, they have never ran off the Track events as quickly as they did these past couple of days. My head my spinning trying to keep up. I can't say enough about Johnny Seabrooks,Gary Phillips, Harley Calhoun and Pam Hill. Their professionalism was impressive as well as the starters, volunteers, backup timers and lane inspectors. And of course, the PA announcing gives this meet a flavor like none other. Job well done to the Albany crew !!

Autumn Burnette of Peachtree Ridge leads the 300 Hurdles category in 42.58 Image courtesy of MVP Photo Top Female Athletes recognized by Class from 3/17 - 3/31. https://dop3o1hd82eb7.cloudfront.net/user_files/11171/athlete of the month march 2012.pdf

     Here is the first of many https://ga.milesplit.com Track Athletes of the Week as determined by the Georgia HS Track/Cross Country Coaches Association.

Please see the list of athletes who have either confirmed with us or are already registered for Footlocker South. We will have the ATLANTA TRACK CLUB tent set up prior to the first race for the top 15 athletes to pick up their TEAM GEORGIA Nike jersey (This year it is navy). All GEORGIA athletes are encouraged to gather at the ATLANTA TRACK CLUB tent prior to the race. We will have someone at the tent at all times so everyone is welcome to leave their sweats, bags etc. together. We will also have some water and a few snacks however should anyone want to bring additional food items they will definitely be welcomed. Good luck to ALL athletes at FOOTLOCKER SOUTH!!!!   GO TEAM GEORGIA !!     

The Atlanta Track Club announces the Athletes chosen to represent Georgia at the Foot Locker South Regionals.

L to R Walton Girls, Sara Hardin, Kelsey Taylor and Avery Bussjager in the lead pack at the Mile mark  pic by gatfxc.com Walton's Girls proved they are the best in Georgia with an impressive defense of their 2010 title and Brookwood's boys just went out there and 'got er done' pounding the field.  Josh Brickell zoomed the final 900 meters enroute to the top Boys Performance of the day and Grace Tinkey was flawless in her 17:59 run earning her the top Girls Performance of the day and the Class A Individual title. (and the award for most bewildered looks on fan's faces) Like, wow look at that girl fly looks...

Class AAAA State Meet Preview by Coach Matt King

Above photo on the left, Henry W. Grady senior Zane Coburn; on the right, sophomore Alex Cameron from Dunwoody high school.

Team Georgia for Foot Locker South Regional is announced by Coach Cathi Monk of Pope HS from the Team Georgia Committee.

   Grace Tinkey turns the Corner at Berry enroute to 17:57  (photos by Nicholas Zincone)  Westminster's Spencer Nash and John Whelchel battle to the Finish line             Alas, two full weekends of XC have now occurred and we have perhaps some very early indicators of who many contenders for titles may be and perhaps one that may be unbeatable in their class. UGA was a  stark contrast this past weekend compared to last season when it was a redneck's boggin' heaven. Not the case as footing was good and some even noted that Berry got dusty as it warmed up. Many teams top 7 at Berry will not reflect who their top 7 is come Region and State as runners get healthy, injured and others improve greatly.