Nathan Smith is Running Fast Enough to Catch a State Title

ATHENS, Ga.- With the cross country state championship coming up Nov. 4-5, Athens Christian’s Nathan Smith could be the first to win a state title for the Eagles since 2015. 
 
The senior came close last year, coming in fifth with a time of 16:56. His new personal best of 15 minutes, 34 seconds and his average 5.5% time drop each season show this could be the year for Smith. 
 
“Most juniors who are motivated to do well their senior season usually only have a 15- to 30-second improvement, but I've had around a minute improvement,” said Smith. 
 
Smith has been using “tempo runs” to improve his training. In tempo runs Smith runs for one mile off his normal mile pace, then the next three to four miles he’ll run faster and repeat. 
 
“It's really helped get my twitch muscles to adapt to be faster during sprints in my races,” Smith said.  
 
Athens Christian coach Cayla Redish has also made changes this season by adjusting the speed of the team's workouts.
 
"Tuesdays and Thursdays are more intense this year, because I know they can handle it," she said. 
 
Smith’s 5.5%  improvement each year hypothetically would lower his finish of 16:56.95 at the 2021 state championships to 15:65.92 on the state course.  
 
The best Class A Division 1 5K state time in the past three years is Graham Blank’s 15:33. Following that is Landmark Chrisitian’s Zack Truiit 2020 winning time of 16:05 and Holy Innocents’ Joe Sapone 2021 winning time of 16:22. 
 
“I want to be the best in the state,” said Smith. “It’s an ambitious goal for me, but after seeing what I can do on the gravel course where I ran my PR (2022 Warpath Invitational in early September), I can put up a pretty good fight. I've made up my mind where I know I can win state, it's just how bad do I want it?”