Council cleans up at state again

Published 9:27 am Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Any lingering debate over what Georgia Military College Prep School distance runner has had the greatest career ought to be settled.

Senior Julian Council collected three more state titles to add to his total when he swept the 800-, 1600-, and 3200-meter races at the GHSA Class A Division 2 track and field championships down in Albany last weekend. Between his individual and team accomplishments, that gives him 13 state championships since his freshman year.

This year’s wins also made Council the Class A D2 boys high-point winner. It’s the second time he has achieved that feat after having first done it as a sophomore. Two years ago was the first in a string of three straight years that he won the 800, 1600, and 3200. A mere quarter of a point last year kept him from being a three-time high-point winner. The University of West Alabama track and cross country signee was able to go out on top with his dominant performance Saturday.

Even a change in the schedule couldn’t slow Council down. Inclement weather moved the one-mile race from Friday night to Saturday morning, meaning he would have to run all three of his individual events in the same day. Running a combined three and a half miles obviously wasn’t too much for the two-time individual cross country state championship winner as those races are run at 3.1 miles.

Council got the morning started with a championship in the 1600, posting a 4:32 ahead of Atlanta Classical Academy freshman Ian Burke at 4:37. His closest race of the day came before lunchtime in the 800. Washington-Wilkes sophomore Dontavion Taylor and Portal junior Cannon Thompson will have to try again next year for a state title in that event. Council crossed the finish line at 2:01.20, less than two seconds faster than Taylor’s 2:02.82 at runner up. Thompson was also less than two seconds behind the champ in third at 2:03.11. It wasn’t a wire-to-wire win for Council, though it seldom is according to GMC Prep track coach Shawn Dennis.

“I learned a couple of years ago not to stress when you’re watching Julian race,” Dennis said. “He never actually leads until he wants to. He’ll be in the middle of the pack and look at his watch and decide he needs to pick it up. I think everybody wants to beat him so bad, they work too hard to get out in front early. Julian never panics. He just runs his race and does what he does.”

Council’s finale was the two-mile. He qualified fifth at sectionals a couple of weekends ago, but that was just because he wanted to. Council had taken it easy in the qualifier, only to win the state championship by about seven seconds over Atlanta Classical’s Burke. That win and the high-point announcement closed the book on Council’s career as the most decorated distance runner GMC Prep has ever had.

Joining the champ in earning high honors at the state meet was GMC Prep sophomore Grady Meier who placed third in the one-mile and seventh in the two-mile. The 4×800 relay team of Council, Meier, Will Brantley, and Brandon Nisinger finished fourth. Propelled by Council’s three wins, the GMC boys tied for fourth as a team with 43 points. Mitchell County was the team champ with 54 points, narrowly beating out runner-up Warren County’s 52.

For the GMC girls, senior Lily Ryan ran a couple of good races as she was third in 800 meters and fifth in the 400. Sophomore Sofia Wood placed seventh in the two-mile.