As the 2025 Georgia High School Association cross country season winds down, the Chapel Hill Panthers hosted their annual 'Atlanta Classic' featuring teams from throughout the metro Atlanta area and offering runners a final run ahead of sectional meets.
For the Carrollton Trojans, this also offered sophomore, Dash Brackin an opportunity to return to running for the first time since dealing with a knee injury from last season and a stress fracture suffered over the summer.
"I was really exited and I'd been looking forward to this day for a couple months now," Brackin said of his return to the course at the Clinton Farms course, a date he and his coaches had been targeting. "I was just really excited to get into it," the Carrollton runner said after finishing with an impressive first place time of 15:44.23.
"I just wanted to feel tired, I wanted to see if I could push my limits and get back to the position where I was before I got injured," Brackin said of his first race back as he and the Trojans would win the boys early division 5K. Meanwhile, the girls early division 5K would go to the Hillgrove Hawks, led by a first place finish by Adelaide Ellis, who finished in a time of 19:43.20.
"I felt pretty good," Ellis said, crediting her teammate, Virginia Nasmyth, who finished second in a time of 19:49.31, for helping push her along the way on the course. "I definitely would not have raced as well," Ellis said of having Nasmyth along her side throughout the race. "I felt very confident just having her there knowing that the Lord was watching over me, pushing me through this race," Ellis said.