Durham Academy Invitational - Durham, NC

Results: Boys | Girls

Chapel Hill stuck to their normal routine and made the short trip to Durham Academy on Saturday. This was Chapel Hill at full strength, with Jack Marshall, who didn’t race at their first Invitational of the season.

In both the boys and girls races, new course records were set. Michelle Lutz of Durham Jordan bested Kate Merrill’s 2002 record of 18:50 with a superb run of 18:45. On the boy’s side, Taylor Gilland of Chapel Hill, ran 16:00 to shred Ryan Workman’s record from 2005 of 16:11. Both won the meet last year as well, but check out their 2006 times: Lutz, 19:47, Gilland, 16:22.

Meet director and Durham Academy coach, Dennis Cullen, had this to say about the two, “Lutz and Gilland looked so impressive. They held huge leads after 400m and were never pushed. Their runs seemed effortless.”

Chapel Hill’s teams won both the boys and girls races as expected. Durham Academy’s boys, ranked 5th in the NCISAA poll, looked solid with a pretty tight 1-5. I’d expect them to move up in this week’s Coaches Poll.

On the girl’s side, Cedar Ridge was 2nd with 81 points. They are currently ranked #6 in the NCRUNNERS.com Coaches Poll.

Adidas Seahawk Invitational - UNCW campus

Results: Champ Boys | Champ Girls | Varsity Boys | Varsity Girls | Open Boys | Open Girls

Video: Champ Boys | Champ Girls

Photo Gallery

As expected there were great races Saturday at the campus of UNC Wilmington.

The Championship Boys race led off the morning at 8:00am. The conditions were outstanding for this race as it was only about 70 degrees.

Broughton HS went straight to the front and stayed there the entire race. They looked very strong as a pack, with Reidy Jones leading them in 16:19 & their 7th man running 17:03. Broughton scored 56 points to defeat Enloe, who was the #1 ranked 4A school coming into the meet, by 10 points. Broughton placed 4 in the top 12 and their 5th was 20th. They definitely came into the meet with confidence and something to prove.

Enloe was led by the 1st and 2nd place finishers, Nick Graw (15:50) and Nick Carter (16:11). The “Nicks” were together through two miles and then Graw decided to go. Carter began coming back to the pack, but responded with a fast finish to hang on for 2nd place. Enloe’s next three scorers were 14th, 19th, and 31st. They will need to close that gap if they want to take Broughton’s strong group down.

The third place team was Green Hope with 99 points. Green Hope also ran well as a pack in this race. Zak Roshdy led them with his 4th place finish, but behind him “team” running was the name of the game. Their next 5 runners were only separated by 7 seconds, from 16:41 to 16:48. Green Hope will look to move up on the Broughton pack as they look towards a state championship.

South View was 4th and scored 129 points. They didn’t look as good as they had at the Jungle Run, but still look like a top 5 4A school. Dwayne Townsend and Derrick Poage led the way as usual, finishing 7th and 8th in 16:23 & 16:27. Mohawked and all, this team is on a mission this season.

Finally, the 5th place team was Providence Day, ranked #1 in the NCISAA Coaches Poll. Providence Day was paced by 3rd place finisher, Clay Sankey, who ran 16:13. This was a chance to prove they could run with the top 4A schools in the state and they did just that. Their top 5 times were: 16:13, 16:39, 17:18, 17:28, & 17:52.

Charles Wofford of Hoggard ran a fine race with his 6th place finish. He was one of the few non-Enloe, Green Hope, and Broughton athletes to place among the top runners.

Look out for Mount Tabor as they looked primed to make another run in November. Also, Cary HS is much improved and will try to make it out of the very tough Mideast region.

The girl’s Championship Race turned out to be much closer than most people imagined. And it wasn’t another 4A school that popped up to challenge the favorites, Providence HS. The #2 ranked 2A school, Durham School of the Arts, ran very well and was only 3 points from pulling a major upset.

Providence’s girls ran as a group with their top 4 as they were only separated by 15 seconds. However, their 5th was another 50 seconds back in 21:20. I know Coach Zu will be working on closing that gap in the near future. Jenna Paley was Providence’s #1 with a time of 20:17, finishing in 16th.

DSA’s Sarah Marion finished 11th and moved right through the field during the entire race. Their top 5’s times were: 20:05, 20:29, 20:43, 20:48, & 21:01. This team definitely looks able to challenge Cardinal Gibbons for the team title in the 2A competition this season.

Third place overall was East Chapel Hill, only about 30 points back from Providence and DSA. East Chapel Hill was led by Elsbeth Grant and Caitie Safrit. They finished 5 seconds apart in 20:23 and 20:28. They placed 4 girls under 21:00 and in the top-40. This team belongs in the top 5 of the Coaches Poll.

Cary HS was 4th and Apex HS was 5th. These teams look very similar, as both are led by 2 front-running girls, and then there is a large gap back to 3, 4, & 5. Andie Cozzarelli of Apex complete ran away from the field and won the race with a time of 19:00. Cary’s #1, Kristen Azarelo, finished 9th overall and ran a time of 19:59. Their’s #2’s came in together, as Cary’s Jenna Christensen finished 14th and Apex’s Amanda Hamilton was 15th. These teams both belong in the top 10 of the 4A Coaches Poll and should find themselves there this week. With both teams having fine runners up front, should the gap begin to close, these two teams could be dangerous.

Jacksonville’s Kaitlyn Davis was 2nd overall in the race behind Cozzarelli. Davis is a sophomore and has begun her season running quite well. Her goal this season, to win the state championship. She probably won’t see the defending state champion, Caroline Kirby of TC Roberson, until Tanglewood, but she’ll have plenty of competition until then. Lindsay Ester of Williams will be another 3A individual looking for a state title and she finished just 2 spots behind Davis in this race. Their times were 19:21 and 19:29 respectively.

Kaite Magee and Lindsay Wetzel of Enloe may have had break though performances on the UNCW course as they finished 3rd and 5th. Magee’s time was 19:23 while Wetzel ran 19:33.

In the boys Varsity Race, Sun Valley’s Will Taylor pretty much led from the start and won the race with a time of 16:36. Closing the gap quickly was a late charging Nick Kelly of Walter Williams, in 16:40. Those two completely separated themselves from the rest of the field as 3rd place, White Oak’s Andre Smith, finished in 17:18.

Middle Creek’s boys won the team competition with 147 points, 20 more than the 2nd place team, Forsyth Country Day. Middle Creek was led by Trey Geiger’s 5th place finish. He was joined by two other Middle Creek athletes in the top 20, Mitch Turner 15th) & Erick Dowell (18th).

Forsyth Country Day was paced by the much improved, Taylor Twine. Taylor ran 17:31, good enough for 8th place. FCDS had one other athlete finish in the top 25, Taylor Boone, who finished 22nd in 18:06.

Sun Valley swept the individual honors in the Varisity races as Danielle Hobbs won, too. Hobbs threw down a very quick opening mile of 5:42, which completely separated her from the field. She was the only girl in the race to break 20:00 as the temperatures were rising and the conditions were nearly as favorable as an hour and half earlier.

The returning 1A state champion, Zatha Loewen of Topsail, paced herself the first mile and then began her quick move towards the front. Zatha ended up moving into 3rd by the finish line and led her team to a 6th place finish.

Krista DeCeault of Sharando (VA) placed 2nd overall with a time of 20:08. It looked as if her team was going to capture the team title as they placed 3 girls in the top 15. However, their 4 and 5 were a way’s back and it allowed for Providence Day’s girls to sneak in and claim the team title.

Providence Day was beaten runners 1-3 by both Sherando (VA) and Bishop McGuinness, but a stronger pack led to their 1-point victory over the team from Virginia. Haley Holway led the Chargers with her 4th place finish. Katie Lonergan was also in the top 20. Providence’s Day’s 5th was 41st while Sherando’s was 52nd, and Bishop’s was 56th.

Bishop McGuinness definitely looks like the team to beat in the state 1A competition. They have a very strong top 3 and I’m sure Coach Youtz is working on their 4th and 5th right now.

Eye Opener - Spartanburg, SC

Results: International Boys | International Girls | Champ Boys | Champ Girls | JV Boys | JV Girls

Video: Interview with Ryan Hill & Luke Lovelace 

Hickory’s Ryan Hill went up against a fellow FL finalist in Luke Lovelace from Chapin, SC. Hill came out on top as he most often does running another very quick time for the 2007 season. Last year Hill covered the tough course in 15:46 and this year he ran 15:24. Definitely not to be overlooked was Patrick Campbell’s 3rd place performance. Patrick has also begun this season running very fast. Campbell, to me, looks like he may have a shot to qualify for the FL Championships. However, I believe Mooresville will be traveling to Hoover, AL to run in the NTN Regional. Such decisions!

Mooresville’s team easily won, placing 5 runners in the top 16. All 5 runners were under 17:00 and the SC course is not easy. Mooresville scored 40 points while 2nd place Wando, totaled 116. Mooresville is looking very good so far this season; it would be very exciting to see them go up against Broughton and Enloe.

In the girl’s International race, TC Roberson finished 3rd overall behind Daniel (SC) and Tennessee’s Science Hill. Mauldin (SC) who is ranked #5 in the NTN poll seemed to be running without some of their top runners and finished 5th. Caroline Kirby led the way for NC and TCR with her 6th place finish, running 19:34. TC Roberson placed their top-5 among the first 42 finishers. This is definitely the team to beat in North Carolina.

The #2 ranked 3A team in the state, Asheville HS, placed 10th overall as a team and were led by Cara Hayes’ 7th place finish. Cara is running very well so far this season. Her time in Spartanburg was 19:40.

Cannon School’s Stephanie Schauder, just a 9th grader, finished 17th overall running 20:22. Look for Stephanie to push the lead pack at the NCISAA state championships in late October.

Carolina Day’s Davis Graham won the Championship boys race with a time of 16:38. Davis won the 2A NCISAA state title last year and is the obvious favorite to repeat.
TC Roberson’s boys team finished 2nd to Wade Hampton (SC) and were led by Brad Cookson’s 10th place finish in 17:19. West Henderson, the #3 ranked 2A school in NC, placed 4th overall. Alex Cremer was their top finisher in 12th place, with a time of 17:28.

Mooresville’s girls were the top team in the Championship race, finishing 7th overall. Hopewell’s Hannah Orders was the top NC finisher, placing 4th overall with a time of 20:04.