Boys Individual Rankings

Rank Athlete/Team Last Result Comments
1
Cameron Ponder
NC Mount Tabor
Tempo'd FNL, won a battle with John Tatter week before at Norman Trzaskoma. adidas this weekend
2
David Melville
NC Northern Guilford
Won Guilford County's didn't race with team at FNL, should race at adidas this weekend assuming he's healthy
3
John Tatter
NC R.J. Reynolds
Won Jungle Run last weekend in what looked to be an easy effort. Did lose to #1 Cameron Ponder by 5 seconds at Norman Trzaskoma. Should challenge his PR at adidas this weekend.
4
Coleman Mitchell
NC Cary Academy
Wins at WNC, FNL already this fall. Very well could be #1 in NC, and we'll see this weekend at adidas
5
Dakota Mendenhall
NC Forbush
Mendenhall has been the most impressive athlete in NC early in the year. 2nd at Providence, 2nd at FNL to Coleman Mitchell with impressive times
6
Finn McBride
NC Green Hope
Posted a "Hard effort" at FNL, but not near all out. We'll see how fit McBride is at Oatlands this weekend in a massive race.
7
Peyton Barish
NC Green Hope
Tempo'd last week, but looks to be in better form than some previously ranked higher.
8
Ben Verchick
NC Union Pines
Huge performance at Jungle Run taking 2nd. PR of 15:42 as well and looks to me like he's the real deal.
9
Marshall Williamson
NC Myers Park
15:19 on a fast Freedom Park course this week in first 5K of the year. Jumps up to a NC lead,
10
Ryan Brown
NC Broughton
Battled with Verchick and Tatter at Jungle Run.
11
Ares Epps
NC Green Hope
Tempo'd at FNL this week. Haven't seen his full hand yet, but an easy 16:14 looks promising.
12
Ian Delgado
NC Green Hope
See Ares Epps
13
Jamie Witmer
NC Hoggard
Was 4th at Jungle Run, then 3rd at FNL against a stronger field. Can Witmer make it three straight strong races this weekend at adidas?
14
Chase Coley
NC Cary Academy
4th at FNL, 2nd at WNC this season. Coley has been impressive scoring wins against his NCISAA 3A rivals. This will be a big test for him at adidas this weekend.
15
David Cart
NC Apex
If I remember correctly Cart was way back through the 2 Mile. Made up a ton of ground over the last mile to finish 5th. If he had hung in with the leaders I think he could have run much faster given how many places he closed.
16
Sam Thornton
NC Cardinal Gibbons
Went for it pushing the pace through the middle of the race at FNL, didn't have the closing speed to outkick the group. Overall a very solid debut for one of our breakout candidates
17
Ben Mitchell
NC Forsyth Country Day School
Doesn't look in peak form yet. Think he will have a breakthrough at some point and return to 2016 form. 4th at WNC, 8th at FNL this season.
18
Noah Dolhare
NC Providence Day School
1st 16:31.00 @ CISAA/GCMSAA #2
Season long I still think Dolhare will have a breakthrough and will crack the top 10. But after finishing behind Ben Mitchell, Chase Coley and Coleman Mitchell at WNC I couldn't justify ranking him higher.
19
Haven Honeycutt
NC Asheville
Had a strong run at Eye Opener winning the Championship Race, was 15th at Buncombe County's last week, which has me confused where Honeycutt's fitness is at or if he just tempo'd the meet. We'll see for sure this week at adidas, assuming he's racing.
20
Michael Moerk
NC Mount Tabor
3rd to Cameron Ponder and John Tatter at Norman Trzaskoma. Only moves down due to people ranked behind him posting strong showings while Moerk tempo'd. Think he could shoot back up in his first real 5K of the year at adidas this week.
21
Ryan Kemper
NC Green Hope
Huge performance at FNL and looks to be the only GH runner that pushed the pace. Could be a star, but we'll see where he ranks within the GH team at Oatlands this weekend.
22
Landon Maxwell
NC East Gaston
Won Luminary Run in a solo effort of 16:15 a few weeks back. Was just off Patrick Sheehan's meet record. We'll see where Maxwell is at against the rest of NC this weekend at adidas.
23
Andrew Hammel
NC Christ School
Newcomer to this list after strong performance at Eye Opener and winning Buncombe County's. This Hammel could shoot up this list with a strong showing at adidas this weekend.
24
Kyle Durham
NC Weddington High School
I feel like I was accurate with Kyle Durham's preseason ranking of 24th. Took 3rd at Providence and 10th at FNL.
25
Brandon Hernandez
NC A.L. Brown
Hernandez has been strong early this season running a 9:33 3 Mile and took 6th at Providence Invitational

Editor's Comments

Honorable Mention

JJ Malach (Broughton), Jack Rooney (Broughton) - Likely deserving of a spot on this list, but I don't think anyone that's still in the top 25 had run poorly enough to be dropped out. Would be my 26/27.

Michael Ly - 15:38 at Freedom Park. Would be a 63 second PR. If the course holds up to be legit he's in these rankings for sure. But I need to see another big performance.

Jacob Wells - falls out due to teammates Malach and Rooney finishing ahead of him at FNL

Ryan Combs, Laderique McNeill, Joey Bream, Russell Engle, Daniel Vo, Reed Blackman