Woodland girls favored to repeat as state XC champs in Class AAAAA

Fresh off their 2016 state championship, the Woodland girls cross country team is the pre-season choice to repeat in Class 5A according to a release Thursday by the Georgia Ranking Committee of MileSplitGA.com.

From the release:

#1- Woodland-Cartersville. They return the bulk of last year's state championship team.

#2- Starr's Mill - they continue to build the program and may have enough to threaten Woodland

#3- McIntosh, another Fayette County school comes in third.

#4- Flowery Branch. The Falcons are perennial podium teams and have been working hard this summer.

#5 Grady - they have become a perennial top team

#6 Decatur - featuring one of the top girls in the state the Decatur team has also spent a lot of time in the top 10 in recent years

#7 Chamblee is another team that is on the rise. Will their climb in to the top 10 last year result in an even higher finish this year?

#8 Whitewater - a third Fayette County school makes its appearance in the top 10

#9 Union Grove - another perennial top 10 school who features one of the top girls in AAAAA

#10 Jones County - they return last year's state champ and the favorite to win it again this year.

Top Individual Girls:

Erin Leonard of Jones County is the clear favorite. In 2016-17 she developed into one of the top girls in all of Georgia. Other girls who should fight it out for top 5 finishes are: Megan Uszynski of McIntosh, Haley Rose of Decatur, Mckenzie Cromer of Union Grove and Erika Plummer of Flower Branch. Woodland has a duo in the top 10 in Carli Clymer and Angela Cochran. Starr's Mill also features a couple of top girls in Mary Valli and Megan Dobson.

For more, visit ga.milesplit.com.