Rockmart Invite  SO off we  went to the hills of Rockmart…. Driving with the windows down, music loud and just enjoying the beautiful landscape of rural Georgia.  AS we appreciate the “playing hooky” like feeling of skipping out of school early…. A funeral procession comes by us and out of respect we pull over as it passes us… a reminder that we should appreciate everything we have!!!!

 

Finally after a long drive through some beautiful countryside we arrive at Prospect valley golf course and as always  or parent volunteers had set up a great team area.  With some rockin’ music from the DJ playing our JV boys and girls toed the line together.  On the challenging course Griffin led us and placed  2 overall in the race with  Ryan 6th  Miller 7th Garrett 11th Wade 12th   to lead us to a runner up TEAM finish. 

Leanne, Rachel, Elise, Tristyn, Hailey, Kate, Nellie, Kaylie made us proud finishing 1-8 in the JV girls race!!!!!  So with the perfect team score of 15 , the girls won the JV TEAM championship. 

Our boys were next up and Dermot let from start to finish for the WIN,    Reed 6th, Andrew 8th,  then it was all POPE in the 10-14th position… Kaleb, Will, Rowen, Aidan, Tommy all running in a close net group.  This finishing structure will prove key as we move on the meets later in the season. 

 

The varsity girls race was the final event of the day and the lady Hounds showed their talent and easily won the TEAM championship.   Aislynn ran with the confidence of a much older runner to the overall WIN.  Ahna completed the course with a strong uphill finish for 3rd , with Sophie 6th and Maeve 7th.  Kelsey stepped up to be the 5th scorer and helped secure the TEAM win for the ladies!! 😊

Goal accomplished for the Hounds as we were able “get the dust off” after fall break AND earned a little hardware in all divisions!!!!

 

 

Wingfoot Classic   Our ladies finally boarded the bus after a comedy of errors by CC transportation and headed off to the Wingfoot Classic.   Upon arrival our HS team was nestled next to the youth pups which continues to create bonding opportunities for teams.  After cheering the on youth (boys placing in a tie for 3rd and Jay making the top 10 stage) our HS-ers began picking up their numbers, warming and heading for the starting line.  Just as we headed over to the line the perfect opportunity resulted for beautiful picutes and other social media posts.    After the carnival like atmosphere, our freshman girls took off at the gun and navigated the hale bails as if it was nothing new.   Our JV ladies also ran strong with Ansley (sub 24!!) leading the way, then Nicole and Sydney.  Followed closely by by Kate and Addy for a total of 35 seconds between our 1-5 runners.  This close group will pay dividends as we head into championships races. 

Finally in full darkness our varsity athletes took to the stage with the best athletes in the southeast.     Former UGA star and current Adidas sponsored athlete, Matthew Boling, started the Championship races.  Our ladies ran in their 3rd race in 20 days and were forced to run shoulder to shoulder with athletes because there were SO many athletes of similar ability .  Not to despair, our ladies did their thing and enjoyed the night.  Jose continues to impress with a 9th place overall finish of 18:35!!!!   It is becoming common to see her on the awards stage with some of the best in the area.   Aislynn and Ahna ran well in the 2 and 3 positions with Maeve and Sophie rounding out the scoring for the lady hounds.  Our girls tunneled through the mass of athletes,  managed the hale bales and after an analysis of the race WE moved up on other teams/athletes as the race progressed.  Some ladies stated that they were tired but after analysis of the ATC'S  very detailed results, WE performed well and actually ALL 7 varsity ladies moved up on the competition throughout the progression of the race.

Dermot was ready as he left the tent and said “I Got This”    His goal all season had been to break 16:00.  This is an elite standard for any HS runner and he ran an impressive race and was able to join the other 6 Pope boys since 1987 to run sub 16:00.  Congrats Dermot, your hard work has paid off!!!!!!!!  Reed also qualified for the championship division and also navigated the densely packed race well finishing is a respectable position of 17:23.
It may sound strange but the coaching staff saw this as more of a “maintenance meet” due to the training part of the season we are in as not every meet can be a “peaking” opportunity for everyone!!  #We Have ToTrainSometimes 😊

WOW,  What a day, After a 620 practice with boys…then a night meet with the girls it had been a DAY!  So, we boarded the bus for the bus ride home and there was NO relaxation allowed on this bus!!! Our junior girls “fun bunch”  led karoke ALL THE WAY back the back to Marietta.  While some might be slightly tone deaf this is how everyone should end a day of quality XC!!!!  Thanks for the fun night PXC!

After a nap,  WE were back up to the countryside of Cartersville for the Varsity boys race. Of the boys racing 9 of the 10 athletes were underclassman.  We are proud of the motivation and potential of our younger guys!!  Leading the Hounds in the boys varsity races was Andrew, followed by Kaleb,  Rowen, Ryan, Toby and Garrett .  GREAT work boys now enjoy your break 😊

Detailed results

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Cobb County Championships Recap   results   
videos: Varsity boys    Varsity girls   JV boys JV girls 
 

Congrats to the Greyhounds who competed at the Cobb County Championships.  Our ladiesplaced 3rd overall in a very competitive field.  Individuals: JV  Kaleb 8th, Rowen 11th  Kelsey 7th Varsity Dermot 3rd, Reed 18th and Andrew 19th.  Varsity girls: Josie 4th, Aislynn 6th  Ahna 16th  and Maeve  17th.  GREAT WORK HOUNDS!

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Carrollton Meet Recap:   results   videos  JV  
After an impressive week of training by the Greyhounds, WE headed to the Carrollton Invitational for a preview of the state xc course.  With the first crisp fall weather of the season and our always reliable tent set up crew up early, our athletes were ready to GO!

Our JV girls secured their box and took off from the line with confidence.  Most of this group had not run the challenging Carrollton course but performed well and placed 5th overall.  Nicole led the way for the girls with Ansley next, Addy, Leanne and Tristyn rounding out the scoring for Pope.  Watch the team video on Instagram and you can see the drive this group had as they come down the final hill of the race.  Next were the JV boys who were led by Kaleb with a very impressive PR race and 4th place overall performance.  Toby ran tough and  Bryson,  Ryan and  Miller all scored for the JV.  All of these JV athletes can contribute to the varsity  and we look forward to their continued inprovement. 
The varsity girls with some quality miles on the week still performed well enough and an overall TEAM Runner-up finish n the 5/6/7 A large division.  Josie and Aislynn ran in a close group to finish 4rd and 5th .   Both young ladies ran very impressive early season times in a competitive field of athletes!!!  Maeve continues to make things look easy and ran to a 18th overall performance with a 2:18 improvement over her 2022 performance.     With Ahna out this week, Sophie ran well as the 4th Greyhound finisher.  Avery Pr’ed  as the 5th scorer with Kelsey just a few seconds back…watch both ladies explosion off the top of the final hill into the finish!!

 

Dermot is getting used to running up front with the top athletes in the state and after another productive day placed 6th overall (:52 faster than 2022)  Running 2nd , Reed muscled through a desely packed group of athlete to run 1:09 faster than his 2022 performance.    Gio looked strong running 3rd  with Will just a few second back….both breaking 19 on this challenging course is impressive.  Rowan continues to quietly do his thing…but man we notice you and are proud that you continue to contribute to the varsity squad.  Proud of our boys group cooldown and even missing key contributors didn’t allow for excuses as our boys continue their dedication to a TEAM  end result. 
While we performed well as a group, we look forward to getting the whole group back together again for the Cobb County championships next Saturday. 

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RACE RECAP: Bob Blasto (8/26/2023)
 

Great job by our Greyhounds at the Bob Blastow Invitational.  The boys kicked off the day in the most competitive field that we have seen this season!  Dermot led the Hounds again with a PR time of 1614!  Reed surprised us all and ran an incredible time of 1640 which was a 55 second PR,  Andrew ran 3rd for the Hounds with a 26 second PR performance.  Tommy remained consistent, running a 8 sec PR,  with  our Super FROSH rounding out the scoring with a very impressive 17:38.  Gio, Aiden and Will also broke 18 to add depth to the boys team scoring.  #TEAM

Several of the boys noted that they felt “flat” after a full week of training and racing for the 3rd consecutive week.  In a society that expects instant results are boys understand that they are progressing as they should.   They know they  have more to do but everyone should be pleased with where they are at this point in the season. #Patience

Our girls were up next and did not disappoint.    In a field with a multitude of high caliber teams, positioning becomes key, yet the elite field usually pulls out the best in performance.  Josie ran a smart race moving up in the later stages to finish 3rd overall in an incredible time of 18:18.  Aislyn, after providing some quality ponytail wear for the girls , raced smarter than a freshman to an impressive performance of 19:30!!  Maeve ran a 2 sec PR to run 3rd , with Ahna was back from sickness to run a solid race in 4th for the ladies.  Sophie, did we mention she is a freshman 😊,  continues to place well with another PR for 5th!  Avery ran 30 seconds faster than last year for the 6th position and Rachel raced well in 7th.   Our ladies placed 3rd overall as a team in a very competitive race.  While this was once of the fastest courses of the year our girls will maintain the focus as positioning in races becomes more of an emphasis.

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Greyhound Nation traveled south to McDonough to compete in the Into the Trail Invitational.   The girls kicked off the day and WON the team championship with only one upper classman on the varsity squad.  After some tricky footing at the start, the ladies remained disciplined and ran an appropriate pace in the early stages.  This attention to detail paid off as Josie and Aislyn (1st varsity 5K) went 1-2 in the race.  Not far behind was Maeve in 5th and Sophie(1st varsity 5K) in 10th.  Rounding out the scoring was Kelsey who finish in a very respectable 12th position. #TEAM

After losing 6 of our top7 boys from the 2022 State Runner up campaign, one would be nervous for 2023.  Our varsity boys have started off the season with the correct mindset and are running in a tight group that is vital to overall TEAM success.  After a quality track season, Dermot started off his junior campaign with an impressive second overall finish!!!  AS mentioned, our boys finished in a close wave of blue 9th Tommy ( 2seconds off PR) ,  Reed  10th  (20 second PR) 14th Andrew and 16th Bert (12 second PR).  Notice the PR’s , this course was not easy and it’s our first race!!

Our FUN group of JV girls took off from the line and also took care of a TEAM championship.  Rachel led the Hounds with a 3rd overall finish, Ansley 4th ,Tristyn 5th and Avery 7th.      TEAM depth is key and the Hounds secured the 15th to 20th position in Breely, Nellie, Addy, Kaylie, Hailey and Samantha.
The last race of the day was the JV boys with Vern (2nd overall) leading the way for Pope.   Improvement by Vern is  impressive in a 7 minute improvement from the last time we competed on this course. Ryan (6th)  should also be applauded for his efforts.  After an ACL surgery sidelined him in 2022,  he roared back in 2023 for a 27 second PR,    Also finishing in the top 12 were Bryson(7th)  and Garrett (9th) , Frank (11th) and Beck(12th)  I love it when we have a huge group finish close together.  #TrainTogether Win Together

Great job Greyhounds… Keep the focus!!!  SPLITS

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RACE RECAP: Hoya 2 mile (8/26/2023)

As the bus pulled out for good ‘ole Allatoona Creek Park,  still in the dark of the night, some were eager,  some nervous but all wishing for maybe just a few more winks of sleep!!  We arrived at our tent city, already set up by the dedicated parent volunteers, as the sun just crested the horizon.  Our athletes performed the appropriate warm-up then with numbers/chips attached preceded to the start line. Divided into 6 races of progressively faster times, finally the gun went off for the first girls race.  Our dedicated split masters at the mile marker, athletes focused, with a plan after practicing numerous starts in during the week. 

In race #1/2,  our lady ‘Hounds ran quality splits,  Kate lead the way finishing 3rd overall with Elise 4th and Breely 10th.  Next up, Our boys were led by Caden, Ari and 1st year runner Jackson!
In race #3/4 Avery and Nicole led our ladies with Bert (3rd overall), Will(9th)  and Griffin (10th)

In race #5/6, represented by some of the best in the County and State of Georgia, our Hounds hung tough.  Josie ran to a 4th overall finish with Aislynn just a few seconds back in 7th. Reed and Tommy led the boys with very impressive improvements from their 2022 race. Realizing we are just starting the season, and still have important training session ahead, we are headed in the right direction.  #TEAM