GMC News
GMC Prep School’s Boys Cross Country team are state champions
The GMC Prep School’s Boys team concluded their historic season with a strong showing at the state championships. The 2016 Georgia High School Association’s (GHSA) State Cross Country Championships were held on November 5 in Carrolton, Georgia on the very challenging course at Carrolton High School. The team swept the team title over Seminole County in a close contest, Hunter Kimball led the way by claiming the individual title. Aaron Kirkland finished the race in 2nd place and Kaylon Farley ended up in 9th place. These three were joined by TJ Johnson (14th), Ethan Yopp (21st), Taylor Sherwood (29th) and Jacob Kauzlarich (36th).
Head coach Debbie Barsby reflecting on the race said “the team worked hard all season to put themselves in position to win today. I am very proud of the boys for accomplishing their goal. They are a very hardworking group of young men and I am extremely happy that they earned the title of State Champion today.”
The race started out with a .5 mile climb, followed by some rolling hills, continued along a creek then finishing up a hill called “Heartbreak Hill”. Speaking about the course, GMC Cross Country runner T.J. Johnson said “The hills are hard. I am grateful that we trained on hills during the season.”
Hunter Kimball grabbed control of the race early on and never let it go. He finished 40 seconds ahead of his teammate Aaron Kirkland. Behind Kimball and Kirkland, it got tighter between Seminole County, Gordon Lee and GMC. Some great running by Farley, Johnson, Yopp, Sherwood, and Kauzlarich allowed the team to emerge victorious.
This is the 3rd time in 5 years that the GMC Prep boys have won the State Championship title in Cross Country. With a team of one senior, three juniors, two sophomores, one freshmen, the boys look to be in the hunt for more state championships for seasons to come.
