Good luck to the Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams as they run in the 2016 GHSA State Championships Saturday, November 5 in Carrollton.
The Boys Class AAAAA race is at 12:30pm; the Girls Class AAAAA race is at 1:15pm at the Carrollton High School XC course.
The Lady Raiders finished 3rd in the Region 6-AAAAA Championships in October which qualified the team for the State Championships for the fifth consecutive year.
The Boys Cross Country team finished 2nd in the Region 6-AAAAA Championships in October which qualified the Raiders for the State Championships for the first time in five years.
The Georgia Ranking Committee had the following to say about the Lady Raiders State prospects:
GHSA AAAAA Girls State Meet Preview
Team Race
With the addition of 3 freshman, Woodland has become a contender for the state championship. They weren't quite as sharp at region as they had been earlier in the season. How will the hills of Carrollton affect them? A case could be made to rank McIntosh #1. They blazed the Heritage Church course for a sub 20 average. If they run that well at State, they very well could be the state champs. Starrs Mill moves up and looks to be a near lock on the podium. The next 3 teams are very tightly bunched and could have been ranked in any order from 4-6.Union Grove was an All-Class top 10 team until an injury derailed their #1's season as Kaylee Haake was a favorite for the Individual title. Can her Wolverine team mates podium without her?
Year in and year out, no one peaks as well for the state meet as the Flowery Branch squads. They are rounding into that form and should be a Podium contender Saturday. Decatur hasn't always run with their full squad, but looked very fast at region. They are another team that is fighting for a podium spot. It is going to take an extraordinary effort from Grady, Riverwood, Whitewater or Chamblee to make the podium, but all 4 ran very well at their region meets. Jones County and North Springs are 2 teams that have top 10 aspirations.
Post Region Rankings
1. Woodland
2. McIntosh
3. Starr's Mill
4. Union Grove
5. Flowery Branch
6. Decatur
7. Grady
8. Riverwood
9. Whitewater
10. Chamblee
Individual Race
Individuals in the hunt for a state championship begin with Elizabeth Graves of Riverwood and Erin Leonard of Jones County. Leonard blistered the Heritage Church course to record an all-time top 10 course time at the Region 4-AAAAA meet. She is peaking at the right time. Megan Uszynski of McIntosh, Haley Rose of Decatur and Erika Plummer of Flowery Branch will challenge for the Individial state title. Not far behind the top girls, should be Mckenzie Cromer and Tori Rives of Union Grove, Carli Clymer and Angela Cochran of Woodland and Mary Valli and Megan Dobso of Starr's Mill.
|
RANK |
TIME |
ATHLETE/TEAM |
GRADE |
MEET DATEPLACE |
|
1 |
18:40.98 |
HALEY ROSE Decatur High School |
2020 |
Region 6-AAAAA XC Championships1st Oct 27, 2016 |
|
2 |
18:47.00 |
ERIKA PLUMMER Flowery Branch |
2018 |
8-AAAAA Region Champinoship1st Oct 27, 2016 |
|
3 |
19:10.41 |
ELIZABETH GRAVES Riverwood International Charter School |
2017 |
Region 6-AAAAA XC Championships2nd Oct 27, 2016 |
|
4 |
19:33.82 |
CARLI CLYMER Woodland |
2020 |
Region 7 AAAAA Cross Country Championship1st Oct 26, 2016 |
|
5 |
19:43.63 |
ANGELA COCHRAN Woodland |
2020 |
Region 7 AAAAA Cross Country Championship2nd Oct 26, 2016 |
|
6 |
19:45.99 |
SOPHIA CHARANIS North Springs |
2018 |
Region 6-AAAAA XC Championships3rd Oct 27, 2016 |
|
7 |
19:53.10 |
SHANNON HOOLAHAN Flowery Branch |
2018 |
8-AAAAA Region Champinoship2nd Oct 27, 2016 |
|
8 |
19:55.65 |
OLIVIA TERWILLIGER Kell High School |
2017 |
Region 7 AAAAA Cross Country Championship3rd Oct 26, 2016 |
|
9 |
19:57.30 |
SARAH DAVIS Buford High School |
2018 |
8-AAAAA Region Champinoship3rd Oct 27, 2016 |
|
10 |
19:59.10 |
HANNAH GRAINGER Flowery Branch |
2019 |
8-AAAAA Region Champinoship4th Oct 27, 2016 |