Megan Sullivan begins her senior year on Saturday, and you can bet she has even higher goals than last year at this time.
In some ways, this is actually "Week 0" of cross country season; official competition doesn't begin until Monday for NCHSAA schools, so this weekend's meets are scrimmages (and both of them are divided by school year to emphasize this). That means we can't really draw any major conclusions this week, except for identifying promising newcomers. But who cares? Actual cross country races are happening! The fall season has begun!
Here's something you might find useful for this weekend: Individual Returning 3000 Meter Rankings (Girls | Boys)
Featured Meet: Wake County Kickoff Classic (WakeMed, Cary)
A low-key tradition in the Raleigh area, this meet divides teams into two races: freshmen and sophomores go first, then juniors and seniors. The course is 3000 meters, which is essentially just one time around the big loop at WakeMed soccer park. For teams that are interested in being competitive, rather than simply using the meet as a preseason tune-up, the rules of the event allow 9th- and 10th-graders to run in the junior/senior race. However, some of top teams in the county routinely hold their best runners out of this race, preferring to train (Green Hope's girls are usually a perfect example of this). Since we don't know who will run and who won't, let's list some things we would like to learn tomorrow:
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How is Rachel Bartolomeo running? After injuries dampened the majority of her 2012-2013 school year, she is reportedly healthy and training well. Cardinal Gibbons did run their top girls last year (see the rankings above), so it would be nice to see how close they are to achieving the three-headed front-runner attack that we thought the Crusaders might have last year.
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How have Broughton's 5 - 7 runners progressed this summer? If the best team in the state has a weakness that could derail their national aspirations, it is the gap between their returning 4th and 5th runners. Broughton also ran their top athletes last year, so this should be a good gauge of the Caps' depth.
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Will the girls' meet & course record fall for the second straight year? Megan Sullivan (Broughton) posted the best time ever run on the WakeMed 3K course last year, and she will be back to take aim at it again. Mary Grace Doggett (Cardinal Gibbons) ranks fourth all-time on the course, and there are others in the race that could also have a shot at the record.
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Who has the early lead among potential advancers from the competitive Mideast 4A boys' race? Apex, Green Hope, Leesville Road, and Millbrook all enter the season in a comparable range (considering returning 5K times), but only three of them can get to the state meet as long as Broughton is in the region. The dark horse candidate is Cary, a team that returns a very strong front three but has major depth issues they needed to address over the summer.
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Will a challenger emerge to the top 4 female teams in the region? Based on returning times, it would appear that the likely state meet advancers on the girls' side are pretty clear-cut. A lot of time has passed since last October, though, and there are several teams that have the potential talent to emerge as threats if the athletes have been working hard.
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How deep are the Cardinal Gibbons boys and girls? The Crusaders are on a quest for a third straight double state championship (having won both boys and girls the past two years), but both teams needed to shore up their depth either with newcomers or with the improvement of returning runners.
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How will Rebekah Greengrass start the season? Last year, the Panther Creek star was on the shelf due to a summer injury. She was healthy at the Appalachian State camp, though, and hopefully she can start strong and finish even stronger.
Meet & Course Records: Girls | Boys
Pioneer Clash of the Classes (State Farm Field, Boone)
This meet is arranged into separate races by class year (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior). The course has varied between 3000 meters and two miles over the years, and the current version is a far cry from the original, completely flat figure eight. Now, there is a challenging hilly section in the second mile that has definitely slowed down the times the last few years. This event was entered as a 3000 last year, and we'll wait to see if that is the measurement again this year (if so, it makes for a nice comparison with the Wake County Kickoff Classic).
Meet Records: Boys | Girls
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