North Georgia runners ready to leave Carrollton with medals

CARROLLTON -- There have been plenty of times over the past decade when north Georgia's distance runners have made west Georgia their own.

And that could well be the case again this weekend at the GHSA cross country championships in Carrollton.

North Hall, Flowery Branch, West Hall, White County, Dawson County and Jefferson will all send both their boys and girls teams to the meet on Saturday, while Chestatee's girls, Lakeview's boys, Jackson County's girls and Towns County's girls will also make the trip, along with a number of individuals.

All have high hopes, including some legitimate championship goals for a number of runners and teams.

The North Hall boys pulled off a rare feat last week in the Region 8-AAA cross country meet, taking the top five spots as they qualified for the state meet Saturday in Carrollton.

North Hall coach Drew Rogers said it was fun to watch but knows things will be markedly more challenging Saturday as his Trojans prepare to try and unseat defending Class AAA state champ and 2011 favorite St. Pius.

"We ran a solid race but we weren't expecting to take all five top spots (at the region meet)," Rogers said. "It is very, very close between all three teams. Woodward beat us two weeks ago in Carrollton but we were without our No. 2 runner so I think we would have had a better chance. It should be an exciting race."

The Class AAA title is expected to be a tight race between North Hall, St. Pius, and Woodward Academy.

"Our Nos. 1 and 2 are even with both teams," Rogers said. "Our 3-5 runners are better than Woodward, I feel, but St. Pius has about five guys that would be equal with our No. 3 and that could be the difference. But if we run as well as we did last year we have a chance."

The North Hall boys -- who have won the team and individual crowns previously -- are paced by Brandon Lawson, who broke the Unicoi course record by 31 seconds at the Region 8-AAA meet. Luis Gonzalez, Witt Nix, Bryce Schuebert, and Tucker LoCicero dominated the meet and all are expected to be at full strength on Saturday.

Rogers said they ran their best race ever at last year's state meet, despite finishing second to St. Pius, and said their goal is to imitate what they did last year.

"We had a good meal of pasta the night before and relaxed and we're going to do the same things we did last year," he said. "Hopefully we'll have the same success, if not better."

The North Hall boys won't be the only local team looking for a state title in Carrollton. The Lady Trojans, West Hall's boys and girls, White County's boys and girls, and Chestatee's girls will all compete in the Class AAA race. Lakeview Academy's boys will run in Class A and the Flowery Branch boys and girls teams will compete in Class AAAA.

On the girls side, the Lady Trojans come into the state meet after winning the 8-AAA team title with West Hall's Taylor Long the individual 8-AAA champion. The Lady Spartans placed three runners in the top ten

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