The 33rd Annual Greensboro XC Classic is finally upon us! And for the first time in a long time it looks (fingers crossed) that there will be no rain! Races kick off tomorrow morning at 9:15, we will have two photographers on site as well as full race video and interview!
Boys Championship
Last years champion Micah Pratt (Patriot Pacers, VA) is headed back down to defend his title. Last season he beat David Melville (Northern Guilford) running 15:42.41 to Melville's 15:54. Pratt ended his Junior season with a trip to San Diego after running 15:23 at Footlocker South for 9th place. This looks to be the first meet Pratt will go all out and probably even be challenged by strong NC competition.
The 2nd and 3rd ranked runners in the virtual meet Todd Holbrook and John Tatter (RJ Reynolds) are just tempoing the meet according to their coach. Also, the Green Hope top 7 will be resting in hopes for a strong performance at Great American next week. They'll send a squad of juniors and seniors, with a team of freshman and sophomores going to the Pirate Invitational.
Ian Shanklin (Page) looks to be the to NC boy in the field and will look to be challenge for the first time since his matchup with Melville at the Guilford County Meet back in August. He won the Seahawk Invitational 2 weekends ago with ease, and would love to add a Greensboro Invitational win to his resume.
Northern Nash Individuals have fared well at this meet in recent years with Steven Whitehead winning two titles in Invitational Sections twice in his career. This year Daniel Belton (Northern Nash) is the top guy on the team and has been running very well early on this season. Kyle Fawzi (Panther Creek) has the ability to contend with the top runners in this race and will hope to break 16 for the first time in his career. Zachary Mercer (Moorseville) ran a PR in his second place finish in the Invitational Race at the adidas XC Challenge running 16:14 as he hopes to bring a strong performance for the second week in a row.
With Green Hope and RJ Reynolds not running full squads this really opens up the team battle. Panther Creek, Chapel Hill, Jordan and Durham Academy will be the favorites for the team title. Despite Green Hope being shorthanded their depth could still boost them to a podium finish. Jordan hasn't faced a strong field since Providence in August and will look to prove how strong of a team they really are. Durham Academy ran really well last weekend at adidas XC Challenge and hope to prove themselves against these NCHSAA powers. Chapel Hill has such a tight pack that will always be a force to be reckoned with no matter what race they're in.
Girls Championship
Sara Platek (Ragsdale) is a two time Champion at this meet with wins from her freshman and sophomore season. She missed last year due to injury but will look to take another win on her local course. Sophia Jantomaso (Patriot Pacers, VA) was second here last season, just three seconds behind Elly Henes. She has run 17:58 and will look to challenge Platek for the win.
Sarah Taylor, Samantha Kolor and Alessandra Rodriguez (Green Hope) will look to lead Green Hope to another strong performance after their dominance at Friday Night Lights two weekends ago. It's hard to count out anyone wearing a Green Hope jersey from being a contender for a top spot in this race. Katherine Dokholyan and Clare McNamara (Chapel Hill) have run 18:37 and 18:45 respectively and will hope to take down the top Green Hope girls in what has shaped up to be an intense team battle.
We saw Hannah Lipps (Hampshire, WV) dominant the Invitational race last weekend at adidas XC Challenge. She had a huge lead immediately in the race as she ran 19:01 solo. It'll be great to see her in a strong field where she doesn't have to lead the whole race.
Rebecca Kefer (NW Guilford) and Erin Spreen (Wake Forest) have both been coming off injury and are still battling their way back from it. They've both gotten better with every race and should be back at their full potential at some point this season.
Chapel Hill is the two-time defending champions at this meet, and have been the team champions too many times to count in the 32 year meet history. Last year they upset Green Hope 49 to 57 where both teams had their entire top 5 in the top 20 scoring positions. This year looks to be similar to last as both teams are dominant forces in North Carolina as they always are. The last time we saw Green Hope they went 2-3-4-5-6 against a strong girls field at Friday Night Lights. The course ran slow that night, so it's been hard to tell how impressive that performance really was.
Behind Chapel HIll and Green Hope will be Wake Forest, Northwest Guilford, and Hough, who are only separated by THREE points in our virtual meet. It is hard to pick a clear frontrunner out of any of these programs.