Giving the Tough Courses Their Due

The course at Myers Park doesn't have enough races for a full rating yet, but it surely ranks among the state's most challenging.

 

There is a lot to be said for racing on tough courses during cross country season.  Although the results don't reflect well in the rankings, runners and teams gain strength that can come in very handy when the postseason rolls around (if you don't believe me, just look at the performances of Virginia schools when they come to WakeMed or McAlpine after racing on tougher courses all season).  Since many of North Carolina's premier cross country venues tend to the faster side, I thought it would be nice to recognize performances from some of the early meets that are more challenging.  Below are some snippets of rankings that consider five meets: the Hyder-McMahill Invitational (Montreat College), the Ashbrook Luminary Run (Ashbrook HS course), the Caldwell County Invitational (Lenoir Acquatic Center course), the Cannon Invitational (Cannon School course), and the Myers Park Invitational (Myers Park HS course).  To qualify, the course had to be rated "moderate" or slower on our course-rating metric, which you can view if you click on the link to the course from any meet page.

 

Top 10 Girls Tough-Course Teams So Far (Full Rankings)

1 Myers Park (NC) 37
  1) Mary Prouty   19:17.54 1
  2) Abby Watkins   19:45.73 4
  3) Story Gourley   20:33.40 7
  4) Julia King   20:56.03 12
  5) Madeline Frank   21:03.98 13
  Average Time: 20:19.34 Total Time: 1:41:36.68 1-5 Split: 1:46.44
  6) Rachel DeMay   21:13.03 15
  7) Meg Greene   21:25.34 18
2 Lake Norman (NC) 142
  1) Holly Bailey   21:14.61 16
  2) Reagan Portelance   21:26.70 19
  3) Zoey Bezanson   21:59.12 32
  4) Elise Devoe   22:01.55 33
  5) Rachel Valocchi   22:15.90 42
  Average Time: 21:47.58 Total Time: 1:48:57.88 1-5 Split: 1:01.29
  6) Melissa Zammitti   22:53.69 78
  7) Calli Barr   23:08.15 91
3 Hough, William A (NC) 200
  1) Sara Lackey   21:50.50 28
  2) Heloise Hedlund   21:51.58 29
  3) Breana Jenkins   21:57.17 31
  4) Paige McKinney   22:35.14 55
  5) Malea Smith   22:36.19 57
  Average Time: 22:10.12 Total Time: 1:50:50.58 1-5 Split: 45.69
  6) Grace Riley   22:43.97 66
  7) Abby Driest   23:32.22 111
4 Robinson, Jay M (NC) 234
  1) Ashleigh Andrejchak   20:48.39 10
  2) Megan Miller   22:05.34 36
  3) Alli Renteria   22:35.61 56
  4) Brooke Johns   22:42.38 62
  5) Kirsten Blackburn   22:47.32 70
  Average Time: 22:11.81 Total Time: 1:50:59.04 1-5 Split: 1:58.93
  6) Abby Hockett   22:58.85 82
  7) Lauren Hughes   23:00.02 83
5 East Lincoln (NC) 238
  1) Frances Massey   19:28.38 3
  2) Magdalyn Foley   22:19.40 44
  3) Megan Rowles   22:24.96 48
  4) Elizabeth Sisk   22:42.60 63
  5) Shelbee Knopf   22:56.46 80
  Average Time: 21:58.36 Total Time: 1:49:51.80 1-5 Split: 3:28.08
  6) Tori Horne   26:10.56 259
  7) Kaitlin Mason   26:47.18 292
6 Lincoln Charter (NC) 250
  1) Sophia Bhalla   20:05.53 5
  2) Taylor Hughes   21:34.48 23
  3) Mara Bhalla   22:05.25 35
  4) Hannah Martin   22:57.48 81
  5) Anna Cunningham   23:27.98 106
  Average Time: 22:02.14 Total Time: 1:50:10.72 1-5 Split: 3:22.45
  6) Lauren Fea   23:47.26 126
  7) Kyndall Morrow   24:11.50 162
7 T.C. Roberson (NC) 265
  1) Casey Greenwalt   22:20.97 46
  2) Mary-o Soule   22:25.59 49
  3) Lily Anderson   22:28.67 51
  4) Anastasia Soule   22:34.26 54
  5) Rachel Koon   22:43.46 65
  Average Time: 22:30.59 Total Time: 1:52:32.95 1-5 Split: 22.49
  6) Nicole Salgado   22:45.52 67
  7) Elena Link   23:08.95 92
8 South Mecklenburg (NC) 379
  1) Emma Link   21:26.91 20
  2) Elizabeth Nelson   21:54.81 30
  3) Lane Hayes   23:10.17 94
  4) Rachel Witner   23:36.69 114
  5) Millie Hair   23:42.95 121
  Average Time: 22:46.31 Total Time: 1:53:51.53 1-5 Split: 2:16.04
  6) Haley Thomason   24:07.71 152
  7) Lauren Moten   24:19.03 171
9 Watauga (NC) 390
  1) Kathleen Mansure   20:41.48 9
  2) Shelby Hickernell   22:19.04 43
  3) Lily Weeks   22:39.16 60
  4) Celia Jackson   22:51.86 73
  5) Sophie Sloboda   25:03.74 205
  Average Time: 22:43.06 Total Time: 1:53:35.28 1-5 Split: 4:22.26
  6) Lauren Welsh   25:06.89 210
  7) Sidney Wiswell   25:54.60 247
10 Community School of Davidson (NC) 400
  1) Malia Ellington   19:26.02 2
  2) Marissa Lundsten   22:10.98 39
  3) Hunter Cahion   22:39.56 61
  4) Katie Smith   24:01.79 148
  5) Kimi Kroemer   24:02.12 150
  Average Time: 22:28.09 Total Time: 1:52:20.47 1-5 Split: 4:36.10
  6) Daniela Prado   26:29.92 275
  7) Caroline Knight   30:32.23 412

 

Top 10 Boys Tough-Course Teams So Far (Full Rankings)

1 Lake Norman Charter School (NC) 134
  1) Nathan Kemper   17:20.55 12
  2) Stephen Hack   17:25.38 14
  3) Matthew Panza   17:37.47 27
  4) Jordan Howlett   17:58.18 39
  5) Sean Powers   18:02.24 42
  Average Time: 17:40.76 Total Time: 1:28:23.82 1-5 Split: 41.69
  6) Zach Stephens   18:37.75 86
  7) Keaton Cooper   18:42.90 94
2 Myers Park (NC) 138
  1) Tucker Smith   16:37.21 3
  2) Chris Smith   17:33.80 23
  3) Sam Augustyn   17:43.88 30
  4) Michael Gacevich   17:52.05 34
  5) Joe Harbacevich   18:11.96 48
  Average Time: 17:35.78 Total Time: 1:27:58.90 1-5 Split: 1:34.75
  6) Zach Huffstetler   18:16.54 56
  7) Conor McAvoy   18:38.39 87
3 Lake Norman (NC) 176
  1) Patrick Sheehan   16:13.29 1
  2) Kevin Craig   17:30.11 19
  3) Collin Emerson   18:10.24 46
  4) Jacob Ennis   18:13.56 51
  5) Bradley Bocker   18:18.46 59
  Average Time: 17:41.13 Total Time: 1:28:25.66 1-5 Split: 2:05.17
  6) Christian Dalton   18:38.62 88
  7) Wyatt Fedorka   18:41.00 91
4 Asheville (NC) 246
  1) Jacob Schattel   17:27.66 17
  2) Noah Shore   17:56.54 36
  3) Elijah Cartier   17:57.40 38
  4) Collin Kemper   18:27.71 73
  5) Sam Guciardo   18:36.82 82
  Average Time: 18:05.23 Total Time: 1:30:26.13 1-5 Split: 1:09.16
  6) Zack Vilen   18:55.02 110
  7) Terry Young   18:58.80 114
5 Cannon School (NC) 372
  1) Patrick Hunter   16:52.95 8
  2) Steven Bennett   17:29.64 18
  3) David Shaw   17:46.25 31
  4) Jordan Battle   19:27.96 157
  5) Davis Nelson   19:28.68 158
  Average Time: 18:13.10 Total Time: 1:31:05.48 1-5 Split: 2:35.73
  6) Elliot Anderson   19:32.47 167
  7) Andrew Nielsen   19:57.83 223
6 Robinson, Jay M (NC) 385
  1) McCann Sheridan   16:36.97 2
  2) Sergio Adame   18:04.92 44
  3) David Evans   18:18.87 60
  4) Paul Evans   18:34.24 81
  5) David Cline   19:48.76 198
  Average Time: 18:16.75 Total Time: 1:31:23.76 1-5 Split: 3:11.79
  6) Nicholas McNiffe   20:00.27 230
  7) Caleb Cantrell   21:18.81 366
7 Charlotte Latin (NC) 387
  1) Jack Ratterree   16:49.46 6
  2) Madison Jaulin   18:26.53 69
  3) Christian White   18:28.50 74
  4) Frank Kenny   18:47.54 99
  5) Jack Wrigley   19:17.23 139
  Average Time: 18:21.85 Total Time: 1:31:49.26 1-5 Split: 2:27.77
  6) Jay Kane   19:20.31 145
  7) Noah Berens   19:33.85 171
8 East Mecklenburg (NC) 389
  1) Fisher Ramsey   17:26.47 15
  2) Jeremy Jones   17:27.51 16
  3) Michael Shaw   18:43.10 95
  4) Preston Hawkes   19:10.05 126
  5) Noah Richardson   19:14.55 137
  Average Time: 18:24.34 Total Time: 1:32:01.68 1-5 Split: 1:48.08
  6) Wolfgang Hunter   20:16.91 269
  7) Nick Nicholson   20:19.00 272
9 South Mecklenburg (NC) 394
  1) Ben Talbert   17:32.80 22
  2) William Adam Thomas   18:00.08 41
  3) Ryan Kavanaugh   18:51.00 105
  4) Henry Crew   18:55.59 111
  5) Eric Procunier   18:58.86 115
  Average Time: 18:27.67 Total Time: 1:32:18.33 1-5 Split: 1:26.06
  6) Landon Holbert   19:04.00 121
  7) Jackson Walker   19:38.85 181
10 Hickory Ridge (NC) 407
  1) Alex Cornwell   16:42.51 5
  2) Matt Inman   17:32.53 21
  3) Vikash Kumar   18:23.08 64
  4) Parker Burns   19:19.09 141
  5) Sam Rupp   19:34.85 176
  Average Time: 18:18.41 Total Time: 1:31:32.06 1-5 Split: 2:52.34
  6) Mike Rutkowski   19:41.80 187
  7) Mike McLaughlin   19:50.01 203