Recap: Week 5 - AT&T Calling...
Hello Junior Cougar Nation,
This is a few days later than normal due to the holiday this week and some general busy-ness this time of year. This is email 1 of 2 for today, recapping the weekend's meet from last Saturday. Preview and notes for Warpath will be arriving later this afternoon.
You can watch Coach J's race highlights video here
We were finally invited to participate in the AT&T Starrs Mill XC invitational in Fayetteville this year. For everyone who made the trip and battled the traffic at the roundabout, you were rewarded with one of the more scenic courses we've seen. Unfortunately, Mother Nature continued her summer stylings into September, and by the time the girls lined up to start we were in full "this-is-Georgia" heat and humidity. Ice towels were used during warmups to help keep core temps ready for the race, and we found every leaf shadow and shade bit we could find to get ourselves loose.
For our young ladies, this was the overall youngest and least experienced field we have put out in years. Several runners were sitting because of workload management, and our trio of returning 8th grade National runners were given an opportunity to run in the high school Freshman race alongside CHS runners (more on that later). Only 6 of our runners had experience racing in a previous season! Nonetheless, everyone looked calm at the start, and Caroline took the team out with a blistering start for this 3k, leading the way for JRCXC throughout the entire race and finishing in under 14 minutes (13:51). She was followed by 6th graders Hanna (14:19), Mia (15:24) and Zahra (15:28). Akshara would round out scoring for us in her first race back from injury this year at 15:50. Eva & Jiyu battled to a 1 second split finish (17:33 and 17:34 respectively). More 6th graders would battle down the chutes as Elin, Carsyn and Ainsley would finish between 19:30 and 19:41. Kamila shaved 18 seconds off her time from the previous week, followed by Riina's debut and a strong showing from Angela and Zelaniya. Amelia shaved 2 minutes off her finishing time from last week and Emma knocked off over 4 minutes! Also debuting and finishing under 24 minutes were Aria (2026 debut) and Stella (XC debut)!
Overall the girls would finish 9th of 14 teams. Running full roster we would have challenged for the top of the podium, but this race was not about placement...it was about experience on a beautiful day. A few circles of a lake made sure we all knew that XC is not just a path - like life it's everything that surrounds us.
The boys would provide the finishing race on the day, under the hottest conditions and highest sun. Caleb earned a medal in 20th place, finishing his 3k in 11:42. Derek C also broke 12:00 at 11:53. Three more 8th graders in Bryce, Patrick S and Nick helped provide veteran leadership and all finished sub 12:30. Michual continued to serve notice that he's ready to score, finishing 6th on the team in 12:34. Colin, Leo Gill and Bennett all broke 14:00, while Royce moved up significantly from the halfway point to finish in 14:12. Leo Griswold was nipping at his heels at 14:21. Jason, Kaden and Alex (his XC debut) ran sub 16:00, Aadit and Niko broke 17:00 and Ricardo and Patrick F broke 18:00. Cameron made his XC debut in 18:24, Noah his '26 debut in 18:26 and James rounded it out for us, just missing breaking 24 minutes but moving up the field as he came down the finish line.
The boys finished in 4th, despite sitting several top runners, but managed to edge out all other middle schools (including a challenger for State in Beacon Hill): the only teams ahead of us were club/all-star teams! 13 of our 21 runners set or established PRs!
Earlier in the day, we had the opportunity to cheer on some fantastic performances from our CHS mentors across Varsity, JV and Freshman races. It bears calling this to your attention: Tamar, Gabi and Rena all had the opportunity to run the 5k Freshman race and they showed why they were given that chance. Tamar would finish 3rd overall, behind two former runners in Alexis and Megan, while Gabi would finish 10th and Rena 14th, helping CHS dominate the race (9 CHS runners in top 25) and edge out perennial powerhouse Marist for a 1st place finish out of 12 schools entering runners.
It was a fantastic day for JRCXC and we continue to progress towards helping each runner achieve their Greatest Race. One more week of modified rosters as we sit a few more runners at Warpath this weekend, and then it's the fun, carnival-like atmosphere of Wingfoot in Cartersville before finishing the regular season at Wesleyan!
Cougar On!
-Coach Derek
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