The War Eagles Cross Country teams have been working hard at practice every day, preparing for some of the biggest meets of the year.
So far this season, they have raced at four meets: the AT&T Starr’s Mill Meet, the Southern Showcase, the Warpath Invitational, and the Wingfoot XC Classic.
In the season opener, the AT&T Starr’s Mill Meet, the runners delivered, winning two first places and one second place. The air at the meet was electric, and everyone was excited to race.
Thirty runners made their War Eagle cross country debut at this meet. As one would expect, many of these first-time runners were nervous, but once they began their race, all doubts disappeared.
The varsity and junior varsity girls both took home first place, continuing to dominate Georgia cross country. Senior Ruby Little set a meet record time of 17:52, and was the first runner to break 18 minutes at the AT&T Starr’s Mill Meet.
The varsity boys won second place with an average time of 16:03. Juniors Tommy Latham and Liam Hanemann placed first and fourth, respectively, and Tommy Latham set a course record, meet record, and school record with a time of 14:54, the first ever time under 15 minutes on the course.
Overall, there were nineteen personal records achieved and sixteen season opener bests.
The next two meets of the season, the Southern Showcase and the Warpath Invitational, occurred on the same day, September 16. Although both meets were rainy, Marist still ran their hardest and performed very well.
The Southern Showcase took place in Huntsville, Alabama and the top 15 girls and 14 boys attended. In the boys championship race, the War Eagles placed sixth, and the girls placed eighth.
Tommy Latham broke the school record yet again with a time of 14:41.
On the very same day, the Warpath Invitational was held in Canton, Georgia and hosted everyone who did not go to Huntsville for the Southern Showcase. Our runners placed fifth in the boys open race and fourth in the girls open race.
On Friday, September 22, the Wingfoot XC Classic took place at Sam Smith Park in Cartersville. It is widely regarded as the biggest, most exciting meet of the entire season, with a live DJ, food trucks, and over 120 different teams.
On the boys’ side, Marist met tough competition, finishing twelfth in the freshman race, seventh in the junior varsity race, and ninth in the championship race.
Marist girls, however, dominated on Friday. The girls finished third, first, and second in the freshman, junior varsity, and championship races respectively. In the girls’ junior varsity race, three Marist runners placed in the top 5: Camille Gipson took third, Maggie Seaver placed fourth, and Lucy Mehre crossed the finish line in fifth.
During the awards ceremony, Marist brought the spirit, cheering far louder than any other team whenever the team received an award. Wingfoot was the best performance of the season so far for the girls, and it was definitely the most exciting.
Overall, the War Eagles cross country team has continued to work hard and perform well at every meet and practice, and we hope to perform even better as the season progresses.