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Tallulah Falls’ Evan Prince (front) ran 25th in a field of 228 runners on Saturday and set a school record in the process.
Junior Captain Evan Prince represented Tallulah Falls School with a 5K school record 15:42.72 in 25th place of 228 championship race harriers (and of 1,868 male racers overall in 10 races from six states and 141 schools) on the two loop lush Chattahoochee Hills Eventing Center course in Fairburn on Saturday.
Arriving before sunlight with hundreds of other vehicles down the long, dusty road to richness, Prince continued his preparation of progressive focus, planning to break the 16 minute threshold and move up to a goal of at least the top 25 from the pre-race seed of 40th.
Starting the race with a barely rising atmospheric haze that allowed about 100 meters of visibility, Prince got a startled, delayed start and quickly began well behind the front running pack of elite (three runners dipped below 15:00) racers.
Within the first mile, which he ran in about five minutes, he was in the top 50. He then progressively efforted his way up amongst the ranks until the final 400 meters when he passed another five or so fatiguing hopefuls, aching his way with gleaming eyes on the clock next to the purple inflatable finish arch, where so many depleted youths ran the race of their lives.
It was the first race in which the fifth place finisher from the 2019 state Class A-Private championships ran even splits for all three miles.
Moreover, instead of feeling like he “had arrived” Prince quickly noted how he can improve upon the day’s memorable performance.
Though times in cross country mean less than in track, based on his recent race time, Prince is currently ranked first in the region, second in Class A-Private, 20th overall in Georgia, and 291st in the nation.
Prince is the sixth-ranked Georgia junior and the 68th rated junior in the nation, yet his aspirations for life impact far exceed his lofty results and performance goals.
– This article was provided by Brian Carter of Tallulah Falls School.