Boys Invitational Race

Zach Boone (Mitchell) found himself with only one opponent on Saturday: the course itself. That's because Boone was able to separate from the rest of the field by over a minute by the time he crossed the finish line, leaving him all alone on the root-filled woods trails that make up the bottom side of the Freedom course. Boone's time is actually the fastest on the course since it was extended to become a full 5K, which essentially makes it a course record - if you know the difficulty level involved, 16:00 is an impressive result. Chris Smith (Myers Park) finished second in just over 17 minutes, as he tried to lead his team to the title. It was South Mecklenburg, however, that took the trophy home with a strong performance. Although the results from this meet will not move the Sabres up in the database, it's possible that they are entering the conversation in the 4A West. Third-place Franklin beat Lake Norman Charter decisively in a showdown between 2A West title contenders

Girls Invitational Race

Although the expected battle with Grace Sullivan did not materialize, as Sullivan did not race, Mary Prouty (Myers Park) found herself fighting off a tough challenge from Frances Massey (East Lincoln). Prouty was able to pull away for a 7-second victory, with neither runner breaking 19 minutes on the challenging, twisty course. Prouty's teammate Story Gourley finished third, and then came the flood of Panthers: Providence girls finished 4-6-7-10 to secure the team win, with Myers Park 14 points behind in 2nd place. For their part, the Mustangs were also down one of their normal top 5 runners, so this result probably has to be taken with a grain of salt all around. In finishing third as a team, Lake Norman Charter established itself as a contender in the 2A classification; the times from this meet won't help them move up in the rankings, but the Knights did defeat Smoky Mountain, one of the top-ranked 2A teams right now, as well as defending 2A champ East Lincoln.