Cannon Cross Country Invitational
Race Video & Interview
Photos - More to Come
Mariah Howlett of Lake Norman Charter took an early lead followed by teammate Izzy Evely. Evely trailed her by about 25-50 meters through the 2 mile until Howlett began to put distance between them over the lat mile. Sitting in third and fourth were Sarah LaTour and Lexi Noch of Cuthbertson. LaTour went through the 2 mile mark in third and began rolling the last mile. She passed Evely and had Howlett in sight. Howlett was able to hold off LaTour as she won in 18:55 to LaTour's 19:01. Evely faded slightly over the last mile, but was able to outlast Lexi Noch for third place running 19:15 and 19:20 respectively.
Cuthbertson girls team was too much to handle for Lake Norman Charter and Charlotte Catholic who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. The Cavaliers scored 33 points to take home the team title, then went on to dominate the JV Race placing 8 in the top 10!
On the boys side Brandon Hernandez of AL Brown took the pace out early and lead through the mile in 5:06. He was trailed by Quinn Schneider of Woodlawn School, Andrew Kiss and Davis Seik of Cuthbertson. When they reached the track at roughly 2 miles into the race their was three boys who had pulled away from the field, Hernandez, Schneider, and Kiss. But it was Schneider who had the most left in the tank and pulled away from the pack in 16:26 with Hernandez in 2nd in 16:39. Connor White from Christ the King Catholic put in a hard last mile to move into third in 16:43.
Knights Crossing XC Invitational
Sarah Bodmer (Cary Academy) and Isabel Zimmermann (Reagan) sat in a front pack of 6 girls that emerged to the front early with Bodmer leading and Zimmermann on the tail end of the group. A slew of Cardinal Gibbons girls sat close behind. Zimmermann looked light she might fall off of the lead group, but was able to bounce back and finish strong and take 2nd in 18:26. Bodmer sat out front for the majority of the race and finished 5th in 18:29. A Gibbons group of Sloan Walter, Katharnie Priu, and Annie Pierce came in 8th, 9th and 10th respectively, and narrowly missed bringing home a team title losing by 5 points to Blacksburg. The posted the best top 7 girls of the day, then bounced back a dominant performance in the JV Race showing how deep they are. Cary Academy looked to be one girl away from having a strong day with their #5 finishing over 30 spots behind their 4.
The boys race was stacked with three of North Carolina's best XC programs in Green Hope, Cary Academy, and Cardinal Gibbons. Two boys from VA established a lead with a large group of boys in chase. Connor Lane (Cardinal Gibbons) started the race out conservatively and began to move up after the first mile. Coleman Mitchell (Cary Academy) and Peyton Barish (Green Hope) also were at the front of the chase pack early on. At the halfway mark Lane and Mitchell took the lead and began to push the pace. Barish still sat in the lead group of 5 with teammates Ian Delgado and Finn McBridge (Green Hope) slightly behind them. Lane and Mitchell then pulled away from the lead group and it was Lane who crossed the finish line first in course record fashion of 15:21. Mitchell crossed in second in 15:27 with Barish in 4th in 15:47. Sam Grelck of Cardinal Gibbons put in work over the last half of the race and moved all the way up to 6th in 16:00.
Delgado and McBride both were able to crack the top 10 finishing 7th and 9th respectively to help lead Green Hope to a team title over NC rivals Cardinal Gibbons and Cary Academy. Gibbons were not too far off Green Hope and had four boys in before Green Hope did. Green Hope won scoring 81 points to Cardinal Gibbons 98. If Gibbons can develop a 5th man this year, look out. Cary Academy were lead a strong top 3 and finished in 3rd with 145 points.
Knights Invitational
In both Varsity races one individual ran away from the field and dominated the race. On the boys side Jacob Gonzalez (South Johnston) made it 4 for 4 over his career at Knights Invitational and in course record fashion running 16:06, jumping up and slapping the finish line banner as he crossed the line showing he had much left in him.
On the girls side Emme Fisher (West Carteret) ran 19:05 to win over Olivia Lackner (St. Thomas Moore) who ran 19:57. Lackner ran 18:55 the week prior at Jungle Run, so Fisher could be in incredible shape if she was able to beat her by over 50 seconds. West Carteret freshman Jenne Reiter took 3rd in 20:19.
Wake Forest beat Holly Springs and West Cartert in the team scores scoring 68. Holly Springs scored 81 to West Carteret's 86.