3A Boys Preview
First the bad news, for all fans of the sport: the top-ranked runner in the classification, Zachary Marchinko (Jesse Carson), has been sick all week and will not be able to compete on Saturday. We all wish him a quick recovery, and hope he can get back on track with his training in time to compete in a postseason meet.
His absence takes a bit of the shine off what truly could have been the best individual race of the weekend, but there are still several top-flight athletes ready to contend for the state title in this race. Alex Cornwell (Hickory Ridge) has the fastest time by a whopping half-second, but the favorite has to be Mitchell Resor (Weddington). He defeated Cornwell at the Midwest Regional, and he has been strong all season - and without Marchinko in the race, he is the top returner from last year's state meet. If Resor has an off day, the title could still go to a Weddington runner, because Matthew Conner is right there with his teammate most races. Jacob Gonzalez (South Johnston) could also be a contender for the title after clocking 15:37 in the East Regional, the fastest time ever on that course by almost 20 seconds. Mideast Region champ David Melville (Northern Guilford) has had an excellent season, and he has already proven that he can run well in rainy conditions at Ivey Redmon. Don't overlook Jacob Franklin (Tuscola) just because he primarily runs on tougher courses in the western part of the state; he should be under 16 this weekend, and his experience on hills should help him in the challenging third mile this weekend. When Gable Dershem (Cleveland) is ranked 5th in your state meet, you know you have a strong group of individuals! If you want sleeper candidates to make the top 5, watch out for Stephen Whitehead (Northern Nash) and Noah Shore (Asheville); neither had his best race in the regional, but both have strong times on challenging courses this season.
In contrast to all those contenders for the individual title and the chaos that will likely result, the team battle is all but over when the gun fires. Weddington is the most dominant team in any classification at this meet, and has been so all season - in fact, the Warriors would be contenders in the 4A meet! Their closest competitor for the team title, Jesse Carson, will have a hard time making the top 5 without their #1 runner, and that makes Asheville the most likely team to finish 2nd. Northern Nash, Chapel Hill and North Lincoln are all close enough to the Cougars to claim the silver trophy, though, if any of them has a good race.