Boys 2A West Region
Teams to Watch
In contrast to the girls' 2A West, the boys' field lacks a clear favorite - or even a team that scores under 100 points in a virtual meet. Lake Norman Charter returns the best front 5 using 2014 5K times, but that's primarily because defending champion Franklin was decimated by the graduation of 4 of its top 7 runners, including the top 3. Franklin did show signs of recovery in the spring, posting the best team 3200 results in the region, so it's unlikely they will fall off as much as the database seems to think. The team 1600 rankings from track season add some surprises to the discussion: in addition to showing solid progress for Polk County, they indicated that Bunker Hill and Bandys could be sleeper teams in a region where lack of depth has opened the door to them.
Athletes to Watch
Noah Graham (Brevard) looks like a dominant figure in the returning 5K rankings, and he also led the region in the 1600. But not so fast - Sean Doyle (Polk County) wo the regional race last year, and he also closed the time gap a lot in the spring. After losing the top three runners in the region to graduation, the individual race will again be senior-heavy: athletes like Evan Grant (Smoky Mountain), Jordan Howlett (Lake Norman Charter), and Justin Tucker (Shelby) will be trying to close out their careers with top performances. Of the three, Tucker had the best spring season. One other potentially intriguing runner is Jorge Espinoza (Hunter Huss), who had the fastest 3200 in the 2A West in his first running season ever this past spring; if he runs cross country, he will surely be in the top 5.
Top 5 Returning Teams (Full Rankings)
| # | Team | Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lake Norman Charter School | 129 | 3 | 14 | 31 | 37 | 44 | - | - |
| 2 | Polk County | 164 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 60 | 82 | - | - |
| 3 | Draughn | 165 | 13 | 21 | 27 | 38 | 66 | - | - |
| 4 | Shelby | 192 | 4 | 32 | 36 | 39 | 81 | - | - |
| 5 | Smoky Mountain | 193 | 2 | 33 | 42 | 53 | 63 | - | - |
Top 10 Returning Individuals (Full Rankings)
| Place | Athlete | Yr | Team | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Noah Graham | 10 | Brevard | 16:21.00 | -- | |
| 2 | Sean Doyle | 11 | Polk County | 16:59.57 | 1 | |
| 3 | Evan Grant | 11 | Smoky Mountain | 17:04.53 | 2 | |
| 4 | Jordan Howlett | 11 | Lake Norman Charter School | 17:09.00 | 3 | |
| 5 | Justin Tucker | 11 | Shelby | 17:10.65 | 4 | |
| 6 | John Johnson | 10 | Bandys | 17:12.33 | 5 | |
| 7 | Matt Bumgarner | 11 | West Lincoln | 17:21.41 | 6 | |
| 8 | Yates Goodson | 11 | Bandys | 17:24.64 | 7 | |
| 9 | Ever Diaz | 10 | Franklin | 17:32.45 | 8 | |
| 10 | Mitchell Brown | 11 | Polk County | 17:33.78 | 9 |