Boys 2A Midwest Region
Teams to Watch
Despite losing their star runner Elijah Inuwa, Central Academy of Technology(CATA) returns a strong team led by Josh Weirich who was the runner up in the 1600 at the outdoor state meet. As runners up at the 2A State meet last year they are the favorites to take the 2A Midwest. Salisbury and West Wilkes also return strong teams, but don't have the front runners the CATA have in Weirich and Alec Merrill. Salisbury returns a strongest 5th runner in the region, if they can move their top runners up towards the front they can easily contend with CATA. West Wilkes is just one runner away from having a very strong squad. If summer training has produced a breakout runner then they have a great shot at winning the Midwest region.
Athletes to Watch
After a really strong track season from Josh Weirich (CATA) he has to be the favorite to win this region and even contend for a 2A State title. He became a much stronger runner during track season and much better than his 16:33 PR from 2014. Dakota Mendenhall (Forbush) had a really strong sophomore year, and I'd only expect him to improve on that, after finishing 3rd last year he will be hungry to challenge Weirich for the top spot. Alec Merrill (CATA) is stronger over longer distances and with his teammate up in the front as well they'll be looking to sweep the top 2 positions. Keep an eye on Danny Mata (Surry Central), who jumped up from outside the top 10 in the fall to 2nd in the region in the 3200 during the spring.
Top 5 Returning Teams (Full Rankings)
| # | Team | Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Academy of Technology | 102 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 25 | 50 | - | - |
| 2 | Salisbury | 134 | 13 | 18 | 27 | 35 | 41 | - | - |
| 3 | West Wilkes | 149 | 5 | 21 | 29 | 32 | 62 | - | - |
| 4 | Surry Central | 161 | 6 | 12 | 15 | 55 | 73 | - | - |
| 5 | Mount Pleasant | 184 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 44 | 68 | - | - |
Top 10 Returning Individuals (Full Rankings)
| Place | Athlete | Yr | Team | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josh Weirich | 10 | Central Academy of Technology | 16:33.9 | 1 | |
| 2 | Dakota Mendenhall | 9 | Forbush | 16:37.7 | 2 | |
| 3 | Alec Merrill | 11 | Central Academy of Technology | 16:39.80 | 3 | |
| 4 | Andrew Tedder | 11 | Ashe County | 17:04.40 | 4 | |
| 5 | Joshua Hall | 11 | West Wilkes | 17:05.88 | 5 | |
| 6 | Daniel Alvarez | 10 | Surry Central | 17:06.62 | 6 | |
| 7 | Matthew Mayes | 11 | North Surry | 17:10.20 | 7 | |
| 8 | Austin Campbell | 11 | East Davidson | 17:10.80 | 8 | |
| 9 | Gareth Berry | 11 | Ashe County | 17:14.20 | 9 | |
| 10 | Josh Adkins | 11 | West Stokes | 17:18.20 | 10 |