On a hot morning in Athens, the Galloway boys’ cross country team put together such a complete performance Sept. 3 at the Bulldog Invitational that even its third-year coach, Denny Beatty, was taken by surprise.

The Scots, who received the No. 1 ranking in Class A and No. 10 in all classifications in Week 2 (currently No. 2 in Class A and No. 9 in all classifications), aren’t sneaking up on anyone now.

Freshman Reilly Friedman opened some eyes in Athens with his time of 16 minutes, 38 seconds and an eighth-place finish out of 281 runners. Seniors Calvin Henry (16:52) and Jack Lovern (17:11) and juniors Matthew Palay (17:39), Aaron Gordon (18:02), Carson Waln (18:38) and Dylan Kidder (19:03) rounded out the top seven for the Scots. They took fifth out of 31 teams and were easily the best finishers of any Class A school.

It was so hot that race officials canceled the final junior varsity meet for safety reasons.

“They’re right where they need to be, right on target,” Beatty said. “They work hard and they work together.”

It’s Wesleyan, Galloway’s Region 5-A rival who has won the state title two years in a row, which the Scots are looking to surpass. Galloway races at Wesleyan’s course today to see how it stacks up against the perennial contenders.

The Scots, coming off a fourth-place finish at state last year, returned six of their seven runners but lost Region 5-A individual champion Jake Grant to graduation. They were looked at in preseason as a team that would make noise next year, not this one.

The top ranking pumped Galloway up, Waln said, but not as much as falling just short at state last year.

“I think that definitely set things in motion and gave us more motivation,” Waln said. “Over half the varsity team stepped up their training and it’s showing a lot.”

The races between now and late October give them an opportunity to build up stamina, concentrate on mileage and speed work in practice, and bridge the gap between their No. 1 and 5 runners.

This is a tight-knit group, Waln said, and they’re capable of doing something special in November. They have never come in first or second at state before.

“There’s a certain bond, almost a brotherhood, that we have that we’ll fight for each other and we’re going to do everything we can to help out the team,” Waln said. “So it is something cool to be a part of.”