Girls 3A Race
We will see a rematch up front from the Cannon XC Invitational from Mariah Howlett (LNC), Sarah LaTour (Cuthbertson), Lexi Noch (Cuthbertson) and Izzy Evely (LNC). Howlett got the better of the group then , but LaTour and Noch are coming off of a strong 1-2 finish at the Union County Championships.
Eliza Witherspoon and Ava Findlay (Brevard) have developed a strong duo that might be able to challenge for the top spot. Findlay had a break out performance two weeks ago at the adidas XC Challenge where she ran 18:57, but most of the season its been Witherspoon finishing ahead of her. Delaney Graham (Westminster, GA) holds a PR of 18:38 from two years ago and ran 18:57 last weekend. She should also be able to challenge for the top spot.
Cuthbertson girls will look to defend their home turf against Westminster, GA. Cuthbertson has a strong top 3 and their 4th and 5th girl have gotten better with every race. They only come out 12 points ahead of Westminster in the virtual meet, but will hope to keep their undefeated season alive.
One of the biggest matchups of the weekend will be between the two NCHSAA 2A West schools, Lake Norman Charter and Brevard. LNC had been the favorites coming into the season, but Brevard has been very impressive so far. Both schools have a strong 1-2 duo and the battle will come down to who has the best 3-4-5.
Boys 3A Race
Karl Thiessen (Abingdon, VA) looks to be dominant in this race with a his PR coming in over 20 seconds faster than the rest of the field. He ran 15:34 at Knights Crossing coming in behind Connor Lane and Coleman Mitchell.
This weeks senior spotlight Austin Carroll (Corinth Holders) is having a huge XC season early on and broke 16 two weeks ago at the adidas XC Challenge with a 15:58. He is hungry for more and has the potential to challenge Thiessen for the win. Noah Graham and Andrew Robinson (Brevard) are due for a fast race and both are capable of breaking 16 here. Both have had tremendous success on the track with Graham running 4:17 and 9:31 and Robinson running 15:56 on the track for 5K. Kyle Hinson (Weddington) won the Union County title last week making it look easy and hopes to dip under 16 this weekend as well. Ian Elliott (Cedar Ridge) ran 16:22 two weekends ago and should be contending in this lead group as well.
This race will give us a great indication with the majority of the top NCHSAA 3A programs running in this field. Weddington has been tremendous early on this season despite losing their top 4 boys from 2015. Asheville, AC Reynolds, Cuthbertson and Corinth Holders and North Lincoln are looking to prove that they should be overlooked. NCHSAA 1A power Walkertown is also in this field and they come in at 2nd in the virtual meet. They are very young and will look to prove that they were just getting started with their dominance at the Jungle Run.