Many teams toed the line yesterday at NXN Southeast with their sights set on a top 2 finish to automatically qualify to Nike Cross Nationals next Saturday in Portland Oregon. But three North Carolina teams had great days, but came up just a little bit short on advancing out of the region.
Boys Championship Race
Over 250 Boys toed the line at WakeMed yesterday afternoon where only two teams, and five individuals can advance out of the region. Many talented individuals from North Carolina had a great shot to advance with Ben Savino (Apex), Ian Shanklin (Page), Ben Mitchell (FCDS) and David Melville (Northern Guilford) looking to cap off excellent XC seasons.
The gun went off and the boys stormed down the long downhill start. This course is known for its fast first mile as the whole first halfmile is pretty much downhill. Strong fields normally go through the mile in the mid 4:30s, but this race was relatively slow at around 4:45. They made their way back up the hill through the 2K and there was a huge lead pack that went through in 6:02. Melville sat right on the shoulder of the pre-race favorite Brodey Hasty (Brentwood,TN) with Savino, Shanklin, and Finn McBride (Green Hope) all in the top 10.
As they reached the top of the hill the front group started to separate as Hasty began to push the pace and established the lead. Melville and Savino remained in the top 10 hoping they could grab a top 5 finish. As the race strung out more, Melville found himself in a group of 4 that all trailed Hasty, and would be guaranteed a spot to NXN. Ben Varghese (TN) began to pull away and would put a gap between himself and the group to put himself in 2nd place.
Melville reached the top of the hill with only two runners ahead of him in Hasty and Varshese and had two runners right on his back. He kicked it home and held off Rohann Asfaw (MD) and Hayden Tullos (GA) to take 3rd in 15:14 and booked his ticket to Portland! Last season the junior took 9th in this race last season just a few spots off of a national birth. He will travel to Portland this week and contend against the national best next weekend at Nike Cross Nationals!
Savino was the second North Carolina boy to cross the line and set a slight PR of 15:31. He ended up as the 7th individual not on a team that finished in the top 2. Ben Mitchell went through the 2K in 30th, and moved up 9 spots over the last 3K to finish 21st in 15:43, capping off a huge breakout season for the junior. He and Savino both earned All-Southeast Regional honors.
Finn McBride took 24th in 15:48, with teammate Peyton Barish just behind in 15:49 in 26th. Quinn Schneider (Woodlawn School) also cracked the top 30 running just over his PR placing 27th with a time of 15:50. Shanklin took 30th in 15:53.
Green Hope boys and Broughton boys went through the 2K mark in 4th and 5th respectively. But team team scores were tight. The two teams fell back a few positions as Green Hope took 6th with Broughton 38 points back in 7th. Green Hope on lose 1 man from their top 7 and should be one of the favorites in this region come next XC season.
Girls Seeded Race
Before the race started all eyes were on the Cardinal Gibbons girls and they were one of the major contenders for a top 2 team finish. As the field made their way down the hill and into the woods, Annika Sleenhof (TN) began to get tripped up by her competitors and decided she didn't want to risk falling, so made a big move early on. The only one to go with her was the heavy pre-race favorite Kate Murphy (Lake Braddock, VA). The two went through the 2K mark 17 seconds ahead of the field rest of the field. The only girl from NC in the lead group at 2K was Sloan Walter (Cardinal Gibbons) who came through in 6:59 with Annie Pierce (Cardinal Gibbons), Sarah Bodmer (Cary Academy) and Calli Parlier (Apex) not far behind. Cardinal Gibbons sat in 2nd through the 2K mark with Cary Academy in a surprising 6th place.
Sleenhof pushed to the top of the hill in front of Murphy, but Murphy took the lead and pushed the pace as they reached the halfway mark. Sleenhof hung on for as long as she can, but Murphy was able to break her and power through the finish line in 17:13. Sleenhof came in with a big PR of 17:24 to take 2nd in a big bounce back year after being injured throughout the 2015 season.
As all the girls came in it was hard to judge where each team was with a big mix of unattached runners coming in. For Cardinal Gibbons they had a great 1-2 with Walter taking 8th and Pierce taking 15th. Their times were 18:05 and 18:24 respectively. Just behind Pierce was Bodmer who ran 18:26 followed by Parlier in 18:29. After a strong start to the year, Emily Lane (Cary Academy) suffered a setback with an injury, but ended the season with a 30 second PR of 18:46! She finished 37th overall.
It seemed to be between three teams as the race wrapped up with Cardinal Gibbons, Lake Braddock (VA) and Blacksburg (VA) and it was way too close to call. The team scores were announced, and Gibbons ended up taking home the brutal 3rd place finish, 20 points behind Lake Braddock. Blacksburg took home the Southeast regional championship with an impressive 35 second spread. There was still a chance at an at-large bid for Gibbons, but the Southeast has never received one of the 4 at-large bids in NXN history. I'm sure every third place team has their case, but with the dominance Gibbons has shown all season, and the class the athletes show at every race, I can't imagine there are 4 other teams more deserving of a chance to run at nationals. Gibbons will be back in full force again next season and only lose #2 girl Annie Pierce, and we know they will certainly be hungry for it over the next year.
Cary Academy finally put together a squad at full strength and took home a very impressive 6th place. For a team and a school of their size, they have to be extremely satisfied with that performance, and the season they've had.