CARROLLTON, GA — More than one hundred schools gathered on the Carrollton City Schools campus for the largest meet in Georgia outside of the state championships, which are also held at CCS. Runners competed in eleven races, including junior varsity, varsity, mixed junior varsity, and races for both large and small schools. This annual event is made possible by Orthowest, a local sponsor that has supported the meet since 1997.

On Saturday, Sept. 9, teams from all across the state of Georgia and even Florida flooded the CCS campus to get a taste of what would be a championship-level meet. Each participating team got a taste of solid competition to help prepare them for the state meet. For the district and community, this meet provided a practice run for what's to come in early November.

Carrollton High School has hosted the GHSA state cross-country championships since 1994, gaining statewide recognition for its annual two-day event held in November. The championship meet draws more than 3,000 runners and 10,000 spectators to the campus each year. During the Orthowest Invitational more than 3,200 runners were in attendance, accompanied by a substantial number of spectators. This event contributes to school system’s and city of Carrollton's list of achievements by bringing in valuable economic support for the local economy.

CHS Athletic Director Paul Fitz-Simons praised the commitment of the cross-country staff, booster club, and community for putting on such a great event. 

“We are fortunate to have amazing community support and facilities to host events like this on our campus,” he said. “Orthowest is a great supporter of our programs, and we appreciate all that they do to provide this race. Coach Sorrells and Coach Raburn worked very hard to get all of these schools here to compete and to have everything organized, which is tough to do. The Athletic Booster Club provided concessions and help around the course. Overall, it was an amazing day, and we look forward to hosting the GHSA state meet later this fall.”

With the running season now in full swing, the CHS varsity cross-country teams hope to build upon their impressive achievements from last season. The varsity boys were led by senior Noah Martinson, who finished second overall at 15:45.59. Noah has won or finished in the top-three in each varsity race this season. Senior Nour Nazim also performed well for the Trojans, finishing 21st out of 300 racers with a time of 16:47.33. For the varsity girls, junior Emily Whipple was the top runner, finishing 45th out of 261 runners with a time of 20:47:21. 

Head Coach Jimmy Sorrells discussed the level of competition at this meet and the significance of hosting.

“I am so proud of our runners from both our JV and varsity teams,” Sorrells said. “The races were very competitive, which caused times to be unusually fast. I would easily consider these races more competitive than you would see at a state championship race because they included the best teams from all classifications. It is an honor to host events like this not only for the competition we get but also to show off how great our campus and city are.”

After five straight weeks of races, the Trojans will have a weekend of rest before running at the Asics Invitational at Bouckaert Farm in Fairburn on Sept. 30. 

Captured in this aerial photograph is the OrthoWest Invitational, featuring 130 teams from across the state and Florida, converging on the Carrollton City School campus on Saturday, Sept. 9. Photo courtesy of Brian Carmichael.

Pictured: Senior Trojan runner Noah Martinson finished second overall out of 300 racers with a time of 15:45.59. Courtesy of Brian Carmicheal