3A Recap

 

Providence Day entered as defending champion in both the boys' and the girls' races, but they also entered with very different levels of momentum.  On the boys' side, the race began with a huge lead pack (see above).  By the end, though, the Chargers were dominant, winning by 35 points for their 5th consecutive championship.  Jack Paddison won individually, outkicking teammate Nick Linder over the last 200 meters as both went under 16 minutes (the only runners to do so all day).  Brothers Josh and Coleman Mitchell powered Cary Academy to a runner-up trophy with 3rd- and 5th-place individual finishes, bracketing Graves Littlejohn (Forsyth Country Day).

While that title streak continued, another came to an unsatisfying end.  Eliza Dekker (Durham Academy), who had won the last three individual championships at this event, was unable to finish the race after leading big in the first two miles.  The trailing duo of Maddy Ringenbach (Ravenscroft) and Sarah Bodmer (Cary Academy) had been reeling her in before she fell, and that opened the door for Bodmer to pull away late and take the win.  Behind Ringenbach came Jena Metwalli (Cannon School), then Kaitlyn Lingard (Greensboro Day) barely held off Emily Lane (Cary Academy).  The Providence Day girls have been bitten badly by the injury and illness bugs this year.  First there was the long recovery for Emma Brown, who was hurt in the spring; that process set her way back in her training, although she is running well again now.  Two other girls in the top 5 for this team have missed races this season, too - Clare Landis sat out the conference and state meets, while Niki Plaus missed conference but ran this weekend.  As a result, there weren't as many red PD jerseys in the front of this race as there were last year.  Despite all of that, Providence Day had the depth to pull off the second straight championship, holding off Cary Academy by 8 points and Ravenscroft by 9.