As sophomore Abi Dickinson prepared for the state cross country meet, she thought about how much progress she had made in a year. Dickinson injured herself early in her freshman year and became the team manager for the remainder of the season.
“Personally, I improved,” Dickinson said. “This season I was in the top five runners, so I helped score points for the team, which was incredible. Also, no one would have ever thought I could do so well, so it was just a great experience.”
At the Georgia High School Association State Meet held at Carrollton Elementary on Saturday, Nov. 9, Dickinson set a new personal record on the 5K course that was 1:26 faster than her previous time.
Dickinson wasn’t the only one feeling good. The team’s top seven boys and seven girls ran at the state meet. They were seniors James Adams, Ryan Phillips, Garrison Pavel, Alex Casado, Haley Gollnick, Jazmin Zambrana; juniors Josh Warren, Alex Casado, Kevin Helinski, Emily Sims; sophomores Sophie Handel, Tori Nails, Dickinson; and freshman Josh Tysor. The girls finished in fifth place and the boys in 11th place. Those finishes are practically a flip-flop of last year’s state rankings when the boys finished fifth and the girls 10th.
The rankings came as a sweet end to a season that began three months earlier under the hot August sun. After weeks of practices, the Panthers began their season Aug. 24 -25 with an overnighter in Charlotte, N.C. There, competing against 60 teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia, the Panther girls placed third and the boys 10th.
They followed that up with a home meet at Heritage Christian Church on Sept. 7 where both boys and girls placed first out of 34 teams. The Carrollton meet a week later gave them a chance to practice on the state course against tough AAAAAA and AAAAA competition, but they did not place.
The following Saturday, Sept. 28, the team ran in a meet at the Conyers International Horse Park. “Several runners set personal records and it really showed what our team was capable of doing,” coach Chris Kesterson said.
On Oct. 3, the boys placed first in the Fayette County Meet against McIntosh, Whitewater, Sandy Creek, Fayette, and Our Lady of Mercy. The girls also finished well, coming in second only to McIntosh. The Panthers last regular season meet was at Auburn High School in Alabama.
“This year the team was really close, which helped during races and workouts,” Dickinson said. “It allowed us to work together and push each other on.”
Although some runners suffered injuries and setbacks throughout the season, many continued to train and are already looking forward to track season, which begins in January.
“It was a tough season, but I’m really proud of our team,” said Handel, who broke her toe early in the season but returned to run at the regional and state meets.