Honorable Mention
Asheville
A relatively deep team for this point in the rankings, and another team that appears to be without a true front-runner at the top, much like Cuthbertson. The return of Noah Shore (PR of 16:12) will certainly help on that front: he sat out the entire 2014 fall season before returning to lead the team in the 1600 and 3200 in the spring. If he is healthy and the rest of the team progresses, there is potential to be in the top 20 here. Still, the results from outdoor season were underwhelming overall, and after more than a year off from cross country I'll wait to see how Shore is racing before moving the Cougars up.
| 1) Davis Turner | 16:49.00 | 120 | ||
| 2) Collin Kemper | 16:55.00 | 141 | ||
| 3) Terry Young | 17:19.50 | 251 | ||
| 4) Adam Young | 17:24.00 | 274 | ||
| 5) Jacob Schattel | 17:49.40 | 411 | ||
| Average Time: 17:15.38 Total Time: 1:26:16.90 1-5 Split: 1:00.40 | ||||
| 6) Isiah First | 18:16.60 | 537 | ||
| 7) Cade Wooten | 18:36.00 | 645 | ||
Northern Nash
When a team's 3-year track record is significantly better than its long-term history, it could mean the program has reached a new level - or it could mean a wave of talent has been passing through. Time will tell what direction the Knights are headed, but their returning depth is a bit suspect - it shows in the returning 5K rankings and also in their returning team 1600 rankings. as the team loses 2 of its top 4 milers to graduation. However, there is cause for hope: the team is potentially strong enough up top to overwhelm other mid-major opponents, and there are several candidates to potentially step up and strengthen the 4 and 5 slots.
| 1) Stephen Whitehead | 16:08.00 | 29 | ||
| 2) Daniel Belton | 16:28.56 | 67 | ||
| 3) Coleman Cherry | 16:54.60 | 139 | ||
| 4) Trey Watson | 17:39.00 | 347 | ||
| 5) Emmanuel Sanchez | 18:30.00 | 605 | ||
| Average Time: 17:08.03 Total Time: 1:25:40.16 1-5 Split: 2:22.00 | ||||
| 6) Jason Michaels | 18:30.60 | 611 | ||
| 7) Damian Moore | 18:56.00 | 741 | ||
Cuthbertson
This is the deepest team to not make the top 30, although the lack of firepower at the top could be a problem. The Cavaliers have lived in the shadow of the two Union County powers for a few years, and have suffered through some coaching changes that have disrupted year-to-year progress. The word is that recent redistricting has been favorable to Cuthbertson's running programs, however, so this could be the start of an upswing. If so, it will fall on the top three runners, all seniors, to set a strong tone for future teams that will allow this squad to survive their graduation.
| 1) Will Cachine | 16:43.00 | 101 | ||
| 2) Grant Wood | 16:48.00 | 119 | ||
| 3) Garrett Nickelson | 17:01.00 | 176 | ||
| 4) Andrew Osterberg | 17:39.00 | 348 | ||
| 5) Peyton Boles | 17:49.00 | 407 | ||
| Average Time: 17:12.00 Total Time: 1:26:00.00 1-5 Split: 1:06.00 | ||||
| 6) Paris Worthan | 18:08.00 | 496 | ||
| 7) Caleb Sluiter | 18:10.00 | 510 | ||
Research Triangle
Depth isn't as big a deal for a 1A school as it is for the larger classifications, but returning only 6 runners is definitely a problem - any injuries to the top 5 could be devastating unless the Raptors cultivate more runners. Still, this is a team with enough talent up top to contend for the 1A title, especially with Michal Swepson stepping up his game in the spring to run 9:49. Overall, though, the results in the spring were a little thin, leaving a lot of questions unanswered until August.
| 1) Madison Daniel | 16:18.71 | 47 | ||
| 2) Michal Swepson | 16:29.79 | 73 | ||
| 3) Jack Puryear | 17:05.00 | 198 | ||
| 4) Eric Young | 17:18.00 | 244 | ||
| 5) Andy Klappenbach | 18:23.63 | 572 | ||
| Average Time: 17:07.03 Total Time: 1:25:35.13 1-5 Split: 2:04.92 | ||||
| 6) Brendan Kane | 19:03.90 | 778 | ||
Providence Day
You can't lose as much talent to graduation as the Chargers have over the last few years and not suffer a down year, and this looks like the one. You don't get to be the 5-time champions in ANY classification without having a serious program-wide commitment to year-round training, though, and for that reason alone you can expect this team to be much better than its 49th-place returning rankings. There are only 2 seniors in this projected top 7, along with a strong rising sophomore class, so don't write the Providence Day boys off completely!
| 1) Noah Dolhare | 16:16.84 | 45 | ||
| 2) Elias Eskind | 16:49.30 | 122 | ||
| 3) Reed Baker | 17:59.00 | 460 | ||
| 4) Connor Haaf | 18:06.00 | 486 | ||
| 5) Alex Smith | 18:07.00 | 494 | ||
| Average Time: 17:27.63 Total Time: 1:27:18.14 1-5 Split: 1:50.16 | ||||
| 6) Nate Baker | 18:28.00 | 590 | ||
| 7) Vance Ayscue | 18:31.00 | 613 | ||