Catholic School Powers Spar At Marist


(photos by Katy Morrissey)

Saturday morning at Marist was like a blast from the past as three of the perennially top programs in Georgia got together for an old-fashioned tri-meet. The course ran much slower than a week ago, because of 'Sally' dumping many inches of tropical rain onto the metro Atlanta area for 48 hours. (or was a 'Double Dip' thrown in to toughen it up?) Needless to say, runners had plenty of room to run free and maneuver throughout the race. 


Gold race girls fly down a hill and make the turn.

The girls' varsity race was outstanding as a young Marist squad ran very well as a pack, placing four runners in the top ten having a 1-5 split of 1:32 and slightly better team average than St. Pius X (:02) Super frosh Ruby Little was in contention up front throughout the race and hung tough a stride back in 3rd place going 19:31. Junior, Nicole Pizzo finished in the top five at 20:08. Mary Brady of St. Pius X just continues to win races. Brady is undefeated this season in all four races she has competed in. She was pushed hard by Sutterfield of Blessed Trinity and Little but held her ground until the finish line taking the win in 19:26. Hannah Schemmel and Catherine Breault both ran well placing 4th/6th respectively. It should be noted that St. Pius was missing their 4-6 runners. Blessed Trinity fought hard, but without the services of NXN finalist Hannah Miniutti and Katie Hamfeldt were a bit hamstrung in this tri-meet. Kelly Ann Sutterfield was in the mix for the win until the near end but had the settle for runner-up behind Brady at 19:31. 

Mary Brady of St. Pius X digs hard up a nasty little hill.

Brady takes the overall win for the Golden Lions posting a 19:26.

Kelly Ann Sutterfield of Blessed Trinity hangs on for 2nd place in front of freshman Ruby Little of Marist. 

The Boys gold race had much the same outcome team-wise as the girls. Marist defended their soggy home turf taking a seven-point win over a St. Pius squad that was missing a couple of runners including their current #1 Ryan Boyle. A pair of seniors led the way for the War Eagles. Jaylen Mallett and Diego Palmisano crossed the mats in unison with Mallett getting the nod for the win at 16:53.70 and Palmisano 16:53.78. St. Pius had three runners finish within :03 of each other going 5,6,7 including Logan Wiley, Gram Russell, and Truman Thompson. Blessed Trinity was also not at full strength for this contest, missing #1 Adam Wade. Top runners for the Titans were Zack Burke placing 3rd at 17:02 and Alex Garrot 4th in 17:16. 

The race is afoot as a group of War Eagles set the pace. 


Gold race boys hug a tight 90-degree turn jousting for position.


A St. Pius X runner leads a trio of Marist harriers up a small hill.


Jaylen Mallett and Diego Palmisano go 1-2 leading Marist to the team win.