Wow! I’ve been coming to the state XC championships since 2015 and I’ve never seen a meet like this. Running the first race of the day in near-perfect weather (maybe a little chilly for us spectators, but perfect for the runners), the times were off the charts and how close things stayed up front made for super-exciting races. Admittedly, it is not a perfect comparison as you look year to year, with actual races varying between Friday and Saturday, early morning to afternoon, freezing temps or pouring rain to high heat (like last year). But I went back to the top class results since 2012 (GHSA expanded from the top class going from 5A to 6A in 2012 and then again to 7A in 2016) and this year’s winning times (15:43 for the guys and 18:15 for the girls) were the fastest ever seen with two exceptions - Kamari Miller’s 2020 state meet record and Lindsey Billing’s 18:10 from 2015, when they shortened the course to 3 miles and eliminated Separation Slope due to heavy rain and slippery conditions. And South’s performances Saturday matched the impressiveness of the overall race.

One reminder before we get to the meet. There is one final activity before we declare the 2023 XC season over. Tuesday, 11/7, is our cross country banquet, starting at 6:00 p.m. This is a great event to celebrate the season and our runners. For those who have earned varsity letters, representatives from 3rd Ascent will be onsite for sizing and ordering of letter jackets, so plan to arrive early if you want to get that done before the start of the banquet.

The Boys

Just after sunrise and with temps hovering around 40, the gun sounded and the boys were off….oh, wait a second. Silly me, this is state, so of course 20 seconds into the race, they were firing the gun again to signal the annual tradition known as the false start because some kid in 180th place tripped over his shoelaces. Anyway, after a slow walk back to the starting line, they got a clean start and were off for real. 

The course is two laps, with each containing a loop around the middle school followed by a loop in the woods. After seeing the start, I positioned myself just before the mile mark as they headed into the woods and what I saw surprised me. While there were obviously guys leading the race, there was no separation of a pack at all. The top 20 guys went by within 5 seconds of each other and it was a continuous wall of runners two and three wide through the top 50. Ben Winn was right up there in 11th, with Adam Zorko just outside the top 40. Wyatt Longstreth was 88th and Rishi Nagappan and Thomas Lichtenwalner were together right around 100, with Camden Coker six seconds back and Aariv Gupta just behind him.

The biggest change as they came out of the woods and headed out for the second lap was the top 20 guys had started to gap the rest of the field. Adam had moved up into the 30’s while Wyatt had climbed about 15 spots. Thomas and Rishi had moved up just a bit, but most importantly, Camden had caught them.  Heading into the woods the final time, it was still anyone’s race, as the lead pack still had 14 guys within 4 seconds of each other, with Ben sitting 9th. Adam was battling for 24th place, Wyatt had zoomed up into the 40’s and Camden had moved up another 20 spots, with Thomas holding on, while Rishi and Aariv were starting to fade a bit. 

With 400m to go, it looked like a two-man race for the win, as Collins Hill’s Jameson Pifer and Lambert’s Jackson Hogsed had pulled away from everyone else. Ben was maybe 6th or 7th, but didn’t look like he was going to move up much more than that. But there were still surprises in store. After cresting the final hill and starting the long downhill to the finish, it was Walton’s Joseph Minecci who blew past both Pifer and Hogsed to take the win. Then it was Ben’s turn, as he thundered down the hill to overtake two Denmark runners and blast his way to a 4th place finish. Even for a MileSplit nerd like myself, it is tough to find firm facts without scrolling through years worth of race results, but based on my findings I believe this is the highest a guy has finished for South, at least in the last twelve years, but quite likely ever. Impressive job Ben!

Adam had been running with Lambert’s Reid Latimer the last half of the race, but finally pulled away down the stretch as he took 24th. Wyatt, meanwhile, was busy doing the unthinkable - running a PR on the state course, as he continued to pass people throughout on his way to a fantastic 34th place finish. 

The last words I heard from Camden after his race at region was “I’m going to crush it at state.” And he lived up to that statement, as he climbed over 50 places the last two miles on his way to a PR of his own, finishing 62nd. Thomas was just 10 seconds back, taking 73rd, while Rishi finished 103rd and Aariv 136th. That left South, ranked 12th on paper leading into the race, with a very nice 7th place finish. Looking back at last year, you had 6 guys back running State and the improvement was remarkable. 3 of the guys (Ben, Wyatt and Thomas) dropped 2 minutes or better while the other 3 (Adam, Rishi, Aariv) took off between 1:20 - 1:30. Well done boys!

The Girls

The ladies manage what the guys could not, a clean start. While this one spread more quickly than the guy’s race, heading into the mile, the lead pack was made up of the top two from Marietta (Mary Nesmith & Maddie Jones), Izzy Yonas, Morgan Grace Sheffield (Denmark), a Walton runner and another Marietta. After getting out to a good start, Molly had settled in 41st, with Paige Harden 15 seconds back, Danielle Schmuckal back just outside the top 100, with Susan Price close behind, Pratima Yellayi not too far back and Ava Wright just behind her.

In the woods, Nesmith started making a move and Izzy was the only one to try to match it and the pack disbanded as everyone began to string out. But going around the school for the second lap, Nesmith separated herself, leaving Izzy in a battle with Jewel Wells of Mill Creek and Jones of Marietta as they made their way into the final woods loop. Molly had moved up two spots to 39 and Dani had gotten inside the top 100 and overtaken Paige, who was still close. 15 seconds back, Pratima had moved past Susan, while Ava continued to fight. 

Coming out of the woods, Nesmith had the win secured as she cruised to a 12-second victory, pacing Marietta to their 4th straight team title. It was a furious battle down the hill for second, but unfortunately the other two had pulled away, with Wells edging Jones. Izzy was next in, with 4th place being the highest finish of her career and her 18:32 finish time being fast enough to win any of the previous five state meets. In fact, I’m going to declare this as the fastest time ever run at state by a South Forsyth female. I don’t have any official records, but the last 10 years have been the strongest in school history, with individual state champions, state team titles and a slew of D1 college runners and Saturday Izzy ran faster than any of them ever did at Carrollton.

Molly was still sitting 39th with 400 meters to go, but used her middle distance speed to blow past 5 runners and take 34th. Dani gained a few more spots to take 92nd, while Paige hung on for 103rd. Pratima closed hard to match Wyatt and Camden and run a PR 22:32 in 109th. Susan was 128th and while Ava didn’t look like she was enjoying that final hill before the finish, she grinded it out and finished strong to take 140th. That left South sitting in 12th place in the team standings, with Izzy and Dani both dropping over 1:30 off of last year’s time and Molly improving by 1:09; it was a great effort by the Lady War Eagles.

With 17 seniors on this year’s team, South will be losing not just nearly 30% of its roster, but also a ton of experience and leadership, so lots of opportunity to see the younger folks step into those roles. On the guy’s side, of the seven that ran at state, Adam Zorko is the only senior and has been a consistent contributor to varsity scoring over the last four years, so they’ll need someone to team up with Ben for that 1-2 punch. But they should be well positioned to keep the momentum they have built. 

For the girls, South will again be saying goodbye to one of the all-time greats. I shared this table last year, so wanted to publish again with a new name on the list. Izzy’s average finish at state (7.5) is 4th best in school history and, for now anyway, closes the books on an unbelievable run of female running greatness. I can’t wait to see who comes along to start a new era.

But they are losing more than just Izzy. Molly Hanlon has had an unusual cross country career. An outstanding freshman season was followed by a forgettable sophomore one, which ultimately led to a low iron diagnosis (public service announcement - if your runner complains of no energy, particularly during races, get their ferritin level checked - low iron is extremely common, particularly in female runners). Molly’s grit and determination led to steady improvement capped by her solid senior year, where she established herself as a reliable #2 runner and team leader.

The girl’s state team was interesting in that it was all seniors (including Ava) and sophomores, so the focus will be who takes the reins as the front-runner for South next year as well as who fills out the depth. Plenty of open spots on the varsity roster for those willing to put in the work.

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been involved with South Forsyth cross country since 2015. I’ve seen a son and now a daughter move through the program and delighted as they developed the same love of running that I’ve had for years. That love led to this crazy adventure as high school newsletter writer, a job I never knew existed or ever expected to have. But writing this for 7 of the last 8 years has been a real joy. Writing about the greatness of the elite runners, but even more fun is seeing a JV kid break out with a big PR or watching someone progress from the open races to JV and finally working their way to varsity. I hope you all have enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing. It has truly been my pleasure.

My work here is done, time to go for a run!