On the far left of the start line, seeded 24th out of 24 qualified teams, North Atlanta Men’s Cross Country team stood silent, waiting for the gun to go off. Each runner knew what this meant. The state meet is the finale of the season, and performing in this race is a team’s biggest season goal. The entire summer and fall have led up to this day, and to perform well or exceed projections is extremely rewarding. Once the scoring was verified, North Atlanta had secured an 11th place finish, shattering their seed of 24th. However, the road to this success was not straight.
Two weeks prior, the team felt they were in shambles. The girls team had lost their hopes of qualifying for state after substantial injuries suffered by their top scorers. Other injuries and sickness on the men’s side threatened to put them in the same boat. Yet, in the face of this adversity, perseverance on the athletes’ sides paired with committed coaching kept them afloat.
The threat of injury wasn’t the Dubs’ only worry. New competition at the sectional meet made it harder than ever to qualify. Last year, GHSA decided to condense each class by getting rid of 7A. North Atlanta was one of the few schools that remained in the new 6A class, and the familiar competition of prior years was gone. Facing larger schools with a larger pool of talented runners, the Dubs had lower odds of making it to the state meet than ever. Junior William Wickstrum said, “Last year, we qualified with no worry, so this year’s competition took us all by surprise.”
The running Warriors season had seen underwhelming results leading up to the sectional meet, adding doubt to the teams dynamics. High scoring meets (a bad thing in XC) riddled their resume, which landed them a 12th place seed at the sectional meet. Top 12 qualified for the state meet, and luckily, they secured the 12th place spot. “I knew we had it in us to qualify, so when they announced the results we all breathed a big sigh of relief,” said Junior Arjun Mitra.
This past Saturday, the GHSA 6A state championship commenced at 9:30 AM. The Dubs, led by head coach Nicholas Cluster and community coach Jonathan Bair, were told to go out slowly so they would not redline too early in the race. This methodology worked wonders on the hilly course. The Warriors beat multiple teams they lost to at sectionals and also handled the majority of the teams from the other section. Coach Bair said, “We showed up today, and I’m so proud of these runners for the commitment they have shown all year.”
It should also be noted that junior Scottie Brown fought her way into 15th place at the sectional meet, earning her a spot on the state meet line by herself.
