With a successful 2024 season, placing 14th in the GHSA State Cross Country Championship, the boys cross country team is hoping to exceed its previous triumphs with one of the best teams in the school’s history, according to senior runner Cameron Collier.
“For the team, we want to firstly, podium at the state meet [top 4],” Collier said. “If that looks like a favorable position for us the closer we get, it will be more about finishing as high on that podium as possible. We are in a great position to have one of the best teams in our school’s history, if not the best, but it’s definitely not going to be easy.”
The team has a new head coach this year, Isaac Seals. Nevertheless, the team has proven themselves to Seals, and he is confident they will have a successful season.
“I really think that this boys team is going to shock a lot of the other teams in the state,” Seals said. “I think that with that core group of guys that we have, these guys could possibly be a podium team.”
Assistant coach Jamal Willis joined Midtown’s cross country staff at the beginning of last school year and has gotten to know the team. Despite losing an important runner, Harrison Goncher to graduation, Willis is confident in the team’s ability to perform. Willis emphasizes a few returning runners and an incoming freshman who are expected to accomplish the team’s goals.
“We lost Harrison; he was a really great runner, but I still feel really good,” Willis said. “We have Zach (Hebeler) running, Dries (Williams) and Rohan (Morel) with all the work they’ve been putting in. We have really great freshmen coming in, Vihaan (Devireddy) is going to have an immediate impact.”
Freshman Vihaan Devireddy will greatly assist the team in its goal to be on the podium at state this season. Devireddy currently runs under a 4:47 mile and 16:59 5k. He was one of the best runners in Atlanta Public Schools, according to Willis. Devireddy has felt the varsity squad will push him to another level.
“Transitioning to high school cross country as a freshman will lead to many changes in competition,” Devireddy said. “Having the ability to run with some of Midtown’s more experienced upperclassmen has helped me adapt to our running environment pretty quickly.”
Despite being new to high school cross country, Devireddy is still foreseen as a key component to this team.
“I will be competing across a much more experienced and skilled field of athletes, who will most likely push me to my limits far greater than I had in middle school,” Devireddy said. “Compared to middle school, I expect my placement to be lower, but times to improve.”
Willis has stayed relatively consistent with his training approach, incorporating speed work on the track, and long runs in Piedmont Park, along the BeltLine and around the neighborhood.
“We do a lot of 2ks, where you go one pace, then another,” Willis said. “I’m really trying to hit every pace and different paces throughout the year. We’ll start to do long runs, and maybe one track workout a week.”
While Seals agrees with the importance of training hard, but above all, he values his runners’ enjoyment.
“I know running can be grueling; it can be very difficult, but nevertheless, the atmosphere of the team has to be fun,” Seals said.
Devireddy applauds Willis’ coaching style. He said the workouts help his personal development, as well as the team’s.
“Starting the season so far, coach Jamal has provided quite challenging workouts for me, along with the team that pushes me to a hefty limit but helps regulate solid improvement for me,” Devireddy said. “Coming into the season, coach Jamal has had high expectations of a team podium finish at state. In addition, having an environment of much older teammates from transitioning from being the oldest in middle school to now being the youngest changes my overall mentality to push myself harder.”
Collier recognizes the transformation in this team, especially concerning age. The team is being very diligent this season, taking all the efforts to be the best it can in hopes of doing well in regular meets and state.
“I think since after my freshman year the common theme has been that this is a young team,” Collier said. “Well, now this will be the oldest the team has been since 2022 in my freshman year. We have had them in the past to help us as we try and perform at our best this season, as a whole.”
Collier knows the kind of grind it’s going to take if they want to see any difference compared to last year in terms of placement.
“The most room to improve that I have seen is physically, in the aspect of just doing the little things every day like stretching after practice, making sure we are hydrated, etc,” Collier said.
