November 3, 2025 — Cross country (XC) is a grueling sport. It’s a footrace that prioritizes endurance, complemented by a dose of outdoor adventure. Imagine rerouting a 5K road race through fields, over hills, into the forest, and across jagged terrain. The pain of the distance is intensified by the stress of the rural elements and the varied course. This is the plight of the cross country runner.
Pope High School’s cross country program won the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) 5A Girls Team State Championship last year. Pope senior XC runner Josie Hutchinson led that team victory and is the reigning 5A Girls Individual State Champion in the sport. She is seeking to defend her title in 2025 and must consider the elements of a nature hike that has evolved into a wilderness race.
“We wake up early in the morning, and we go run 3.1 miles,” explained Josie. “There’s a lot of dirt and mud, trails and woods, and there are roots everywhere.”
Roots have a fitting presence in Josie’s story. Her family roots feature a strong Cobb foundation and sporting upbringing. Similarly, the legacy of Pope’s cross country program has provided the groundwork in which she has blossomed. Josie herself is rooted and grounded, unaffected by athletic success. It’s safe to say that this Greyhound runner has a strength that runs deep.
Growth Rings: A Champion in Bloom
Before digging into Josie’s roots, it would be wise to acknowledge evidence of her growth as she prepares for a chance at back-to-back GHSA state titles. Josie is a five-time GHSA State Champion—decorated twice in cross country (once each for 2024 individual and team titles) and thrice with 2024 track and field (as part of 4x800m relay, individually for 3200m, and a team title). In her final three varsity seasons, she has finished no worse than third in 19 of the 25 cross country races she has run in the state of Georgia, and she won eight of those. She owns five race records at Pope, has outshined area football stars as Cobb Schools Athlete of the Week, earned multiple All-County and All-Metro Cross Country honors, and is a two-time Regional and Sectional Champion. Her running resume is stronger than a Georgia live oak.
“She’s the GOAT for Pope High School cross country,” Pope XC Coach Cathi Monk said, referencing the "Greatest Of All Time" acronym. “Josie goes above what is required in her preparation. Once the gun goes off, she has that little something special that allows her to perform. She’s a great competitor and an even better person.”
Pope Athletic Director Josh Mathews recognized early in Josie’s career that she had unlimited potential.
“From the start of her freshman year,” Mathews recalled, “Josie demonstrated a capacity that is unlike most athletes. She has a gear inside her when racing that allows her to push her performance beyond the norm and reach unexpected levels time and again.”
Fueled by Inner Fire and Family
Josie is slight of build and quick with a smile, but don’t let that fool you. She has a passion and a drive within that are uncommon.
“I'm super competitive,” Josie admitted. “I always have been. I've played a ton of sports in my life, so I think that was super helpful. Being mentally tough is super important. It's hard to run three miles back into the woods with nobody back there to cheer for you. You have to do everything you can to keep going.”
Josie credits her family roots with nurturing that determined will.
“My sisters played a ton of different sports,” she reasoned, as the youngest daughter of Joe and Christin Hutchinson. “But my dad is probably where I get a lot of my competitiveness. He was a college athlete, so I think that definitely helps.”
Joe was an infielder on the East Marietta baseball team that won the 1983 Little League World Series. That team went on to win four more amateur national titles in older age groups before Joe had a hall of fame career at Wheeler High School. Josie’s dad knows a thing or two about what it takes to win, and he sees that in Josie’s cross country pursuit.
“Some kids have natural God-given talent,” Joe said, deflecting credit for Josie’s abilities. “There are certain things that you can't really teach. You can't teach kids the desire to work hard or how to have the attitude that it takes to achieve. I mean, as a kid, you either have it, or you don't.”
One might say Josie’s drive was baked into the soil.
“Josie’s family legacy definitely plays into her athletic demeanor and performance,” Pope AD Mathews added. “Her older sisters paved a path of hard work and high-level execution on our soccer and volleyball teams, so she saw the demands of excellence as she grew into a high school athlete.”
Soil for Success
In addition to the seeding ingrained by her family tree, the legacy of the Pope XC program has provided Josie a canopy under which to grow. The Greyhounds have won ten region titles and seven state championships as a team in the school’s 38-year history. It was the perfect place for Josie to be planted.
Josie arrived at Pope as a lacrosse player who had run one casual cross country season in eighth grade, simply for additional conditioning.
“I hated it,” Josie remembered. “And then my freshman year, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was kind of just running.”
She was “just running” with the varsity squad, though. As a freshman, that was noteworthy.
“A month into the season, she's running No. 2 or No. 3 on the varsity in the first couple races,” dad Joe pointed out, surprised that Josie had already worked her way into the top five scoring spots. “I'm like, ‘what in the world's going on here?’”
“And she was doing it in her regular tennis shoes,” mom Christin interjected. “They came up to us afterward, wondering, ‘Why is she not wearing spikes?’ We don't know. Are you supposed to be wearing spikes? We didn't know anything about that.”
That freshman season, Josie placed in the top ten only once in a varsity race, but she was a prominent force on the Pope team. She finished with the fastest or second-fastest time among Greyhound runners in seven of her eight varsity races.
A Spark in Spikes
Realizing that she had a gift in this sport, a pair of spikes was ordered. In Josie’s sophomore year, that proved to be a wise purchase.
“My first race in my brand new spikes,” Josie recounted fondly, “I think I ran the third fastest time in school history. I didn’t know what was happening. I just remember following the girls in front of me, and it ended up being, like, a huge PR (personal record). It was really exciting.”
Hitting Her Stride
That was the precursor to the massive success Josie has experienced on the paths and trails of cross country meets. Still, with all the accolades and achievements, she remains down to earth when outside the start and finish lines.
“Josie is a great teammate,” emphasized Coach Monk, “and someone we can always count on to be key in motivating her entire team. She is just a FUN person to be around both on and off the competition field.”
While her parents obviously enjoy Josie’s running accomplishments, they find greater pride in this personal side of their daughter.
“One of the things I think she's particularly good at,” mom Christin said in reflection, “is taking some of the younger girls under her wing; loving on them and making them feel a part of the group. You know, her running is amazing. I'm so proud of her, but I'm more proud of just how she encourages other people, celebrates their successes, and tries to build them back up when they’re down.”
Dad Joe shares that pride in Josie’s character.
“She huddles the team together before every race,” he added, “and talks to them like a player-coach, a captain, you know. She motivates them for the race and then says a prayer with everybody. She takes that initiative on her own.”
After races, even when she has posted the fastest time, Josie will delay her own cool-down period until after she has welcomed other racers to the finish line and encouraged them on their finish.
“Teammates' parents call it the ‘Josie effect,’” Christin said with a smile. “You know, she goes out there and morphs into this super competitive runner, but then, at the end of the race, she's passing out waters to the other runners. She just has a kind heart.”
Those beyond the Pope team recognize that quality as well.
“Josie exhibits a character and integrity that allows her to be a positive influence on other runners both within our program and on other teams,” Pope AD Mathews said in praise. “She is a difference maker in a positive way. I am so proud of how she has represented Pope High School with a spirit of well-rounded excellence throughout her high school career.”
Josie points to her mom as a role model in compassion and caring. It doesn’t hurt that both of her grandfathers are ministers. It stands to reason that she would bring some of the cross to cross country. For Josie, the XC community isn’t a competition of opposing foes; it’s a congregation of fellow overcomers.
“It's like we all kind of suffer through the race together,” the reigning state champion said. “But I think understanding that has helped me be a better leader. I find a lot of comfort in encouraging others, especially my teammates.”
Finishing Lines
Josie’s PR in cross country, set earlier this year, is 17:31.49. She claims that she doesn’t have a new PR goal; she just wants to remain consistently under 18 minutes. She believes that is the best way to prepare her to join the Samford University cross country team in 2026.
In the meantime, Josie aims to avoid those pesky roots that trip up some runners on the high school cross country courses of Georgia. Those hazards are typically painted in bright colors so runners can see them, but they still take down a runner on occasion. In that way, those roots are a lot like Josie. In the GHSA cross country world, she stands out; those paying attention can’t help but notice, and she often leaves other racers in the dust.
Josie and the Pope XC team will try to defend their individual and team titles, respectively, this coming Saturday in Carrollton, Georgia.
h/t photos provided by Hutchinson family
