Apex Relays Recap

As we anticipated in the preview article, the weather was the biggest story of the meet.  The cold and rain caused problems with the timing system (though the hard work of meet management fought through those issues), forced the cancellation of all four jumping events, and definitely impacted the sprint performances.  It got particularly bad right after the lunch break, during the sprint medleys and the 4x100's, when the rain and the wind both picked up.  That cleared away before long, fortunately, and conditions were better for the final three events of the day.  Depite these difficulties, there were several noteworthy performances during the course of the meet.

 

Distance Rules The Day

As you might expect when the temperatures are in the 50's, the distance runners had a big day.  The morning was loaded with top performances, from the first gun in the girls' 4x1600 to the conclusion of the Distance Medley right before the lunch break.  In the middle, there were the Invitational 1600's, which have become the featured event of the meet in recent years.  The two races did not disappoint this time around, starting with Ryen Frazier's PR of 4:53.71 NC #2 NC #8 All-Time.  Behind her, Blair Ramsay (Grimsley) also upped her all-time best with her 4:57.12 NC #3 NC #17 All-Time.  The boys' race went down much the same way, with Ryan Speer (North Raleigh Christian) breaking from the field with 200 to go to claim the win in 4:15.06 NC #1.  Nick Linder (Providence Day) clocked 4:16.59 NC #3, while Mihret Coulter (Apex) broke 4:20 for the first time to earn NC #5.