Although nearly 24 hours of rain will certainly slow down the lightning-fast Southside Park course, there will still be strong competition at the United Way Invitational. The best of the west come together for a good cause, a good race, and a good meal this afternoon, and for a weekday meet this is a doozy, rivaling the size and competitiveness of all but the biggest Saturday invitationals. The rain may also put a damper on the coverage, making it harder to get video and photos, but NCRunners will try to capture the spirit of this unique meet.
Championship Girls
Teams to Watch
On paper this looks like a win for TC Roberson, the somewhat suprising team that has improved tremendously this year. Don't count out the North Lincoln girls, who lurk just behind and showed how good they are at Wendy's. It looks like AL Brown and North Buncombe will fight it out for third place, as the two teams grade out almost identically in the virtual meet below. Fred T. Foard and Providence Day will contend for spots in the top 5 teams, as well. It appears that Watauga will not be running their top 7 girls in the championship race, in anticipation of attending the MileStat.com XC Invitational on Saturday.
Runners to Watch
Last year Brooke Gordon (TC Roberson) broke 18 minutes at this event, with no other race under 18:30; this year, she already has a 17:54 PR coming into the meet. The top 10 should be controlled by the top teams, with Allie Castro and Savannah Fornshell of North Lincoln, and Elizabeth Mosher, Rachel Koon, and Anastasia Soule of TC Roberson, all under 19:30 on the season. Watch out for Grace Turner (Lincolnton), who ran her 19:29 on a much slower course at Murray's Mill and is looking to prove that she is a 2A title contender. Rounding out the top 10 contenders are Fred T. Foard teammates Katilyn Rayfield and Courtney Hull, Katarina Ruehl (North Boncombe), and Emma Brown (Providence Day).
(Based on the teams participating last year)
Championship Boys
Teams to Watch
If TC Roberson is still without Cole Rains, then this becomes a very interesting race up front. East Rowan has been on a mission to prove themselves this year, and they have a good chance to win. TC Roberson is still a force without Rains, but if he returns in decent form they become more of a lock to win the meet. Waiting behind those two teams are Providence Day, looking to build on a big jump in the all-classes rankings last week, as well as an improving Watauga squad (if they run their top boys) and a battle-tested North Lincoln group that has their eyes on a 2A state title.
Runners to Watch
Cole Honeycutt (East Rowan) will almost certainly go straight to the front of the race, but he won't be alone. Providence Day sophomore Ben Huffman has been having a great season and has the ability to win this race. Watauga teammates Peter Vandenberg and Josh Anderson put up fast times at Wendy's. Behind them will be brothers Robert and Paul Kovach (TC Roberson), while East Rowan could put three in the top 10 with Conor Honeycutt joining his brother and Cal Meyers also in the mix. The competition should be fierce for the last spots in the top 10, with Kyle Gillis (Carson), Noah Green (Patton), and Alex Zorich (TC Roberson) all capable of getting there. Don't count out German Perez and his North Lincoln boys, who have shown signs of improvement but don't seem to have put it all together yet. The wild card in this race is Cole Rains (TC Roberson), who has been out for a while with an injury; if he returns, what will his fitness level be?
(Based on the teams attending last year)