XC Preview: NCHSAA 4A by Region

Boys 4A Midwest Region

Teams to Watch

This has become arguably the most difficult region for boys' teams - witness the fact that last year's 3A champions are ranked 5th here. With the transfer of Nelson Russ (which is not reflected below), Mount Tabor is the favorite to win the region and a contender for the state title. East Chapel Hill also has a loaded returning team, and they had better team 1600 results than Mount Tabor (although the Spartans lead the team 3200 rankings). Cardinal Gibbons is almost always better than expected, as evidenced by the fact that they have the best returning 1600 results in the region, and that will make it hard for Page and Jordan to advance to the state meet.


Athletes to Watch

Kenny Kneisel (Mount Tabor) has the top returning time in the region, but he has a lot of support from Nelson Russ and Ian Foley - any of the three could run #1 for the Spartans in any given race. The same may be true for East Chapel Hill, with Ethan Ready and James Gildard, as well as for Cardinal Gibbons, which has Connor Lane and Connor Peoples up front. With all that talent, it may be hard for a "sleeper" candidate to break into the top 10, let alone the top 5. If anybody is going to make a big step forward, it could be Daniel Watts (Parkland), who clocked 9:37 to rank 3rd among returning 3200 runners in this region.


Top 5 Returning Teams (Full Rankings)

#TeamScore1234567
1East Chapel Hill472561024--
2Mount Tabor5314121620--
3Page1261315193544--
4Jordan1372326273031--
5Cardinal Gibbons13937184962--


Top 10 Returning Individuals (Full Rankings)

PlaceAthleteYrTeamTimePoints
1Kenny Kneisel11Mount Tabor15:31.501
2Ethan Ready11East Chapel Hill15:44.502
3Connor Lane10Cardinal Gibbons15:45.903
4Ian Foley11Mount Tabor15:48.694
5Connor McDonald11East Chapel Hill15:50.305
6James Gildard11East Chapel Hill15:52.006
7Connor Peeples11Cardinal Gibbons16:00.597
8Nelson Russ11West Forsyth16:02.598
9Daniel Watts11Parkland16:04.099
10Chris Hassel10East Chapel Hill16:04.7210