The 2006 Seahawk HS Invitational looks to be very promising. Many ranked teams from the 1st Coaches Poll will be going head to head. It is assured that the 2nd Coaches Poll will rely heavily on the outcome of the Championship and Varsity races.
For most teams this is the first serious meet of the season, which makes it exciting for the athletes and extremely nerve-racking for the coaches. Typically ths meet begins the speculations of who could be in the mix for a state title both individually and as a team.
You can click here for the team entries and race assignments. Below is a preview of each race.
Championship Boys:
In this race you have 7 of the top 10 ranked boys 4A teams. Northwest Guilford comes in ranked 3rd, but needs to run much better than they did at the Guilford County Championships if they want to hold on to that spot. Mount Tabor is ranked 4th and is led by possible state title contender, Greg Dame. Broughton comes in ranked 5th and we know they have a solid front group, but not sure what they have after that. Enloe, returns a group of sub 10:00 performers in track, so they should be solid. Weddington is next at 7th. They had a very strong pack at WNC and Coach Malady is very pleased with his leadership up front. Green Hope had a good run at WNC and will look to build on that race. Then comes Pinecrest who dominated the Jungle Run and is much better than their 10th place ranking. I would have to give them the nod as the favorites in this race. Andy Wacker will definitely be leading this team in hopes of a team title. There are a number of other teams in this race who traditionally have strong teams like Apex, Cary, and South View who will look to be spoilers to the ranked teams.
Championship Girls:
There are 6 4A ranked girl's teams in this race. Leading the way is the 2nd ranked Providence girls who are hoping to challenge Chapel Hill at season end. The 3rd ranked Green Hope team had an excellent start at the WNC XC Festival, and would love to continue improving. Then you have 6th ranked Mount Tabor, 7th ranked Broughton, 9th ranked Cary, and 10th ranked Apex. In the girl's race, look for there to be many teams in the mix. A Pinecrest team at full strength could be very good. Of course, Athens Drive will be solid with Callan Fike leading the way. South Meck didn't have the start they wanted at the Providence Invitational, but look for them to come out wanting to prove something. Finally, South View didn't run their top girls in the same race at the Jungle Run, so they could pull off an upset as well.
Varsity Boys:
Look for Sun Valley to lead this race with a number of private schools trailing behind. Fayetteville Academy and Forsyth Country Day are the top ranked Independent schools in the race and they will both be up towards the top of the team race. Also, Northwood, with their strong front 3 could present a problem to the others. Placing 3 in the top 10 could prove to be too much, despite their lack of a 4th and 5th man as seen at the Jungle Run. Other ranked teams are: Bishop McGuiness(1A) ranked 5th, Topsail(1A) ranked 7th, and Northside(1A) ranked 10th.
Varsity Girls:
Again, Sun Valley's girls should lead the way as they are the 3rd ranked 3A team. Behind them could be a lot of smaller schools in the mix. Croatan's girls are ranked 5th in 2A, so they will be up front. Your other ranked teams are: Swansboro(2A) who is ranked 10th, North Stokes(1A) ranked 3rd, Topsail(1A) ranked 5th, and Bishop McGuiness(1A) ranked 10th.
Best of luck to all the teams racing this weekend. Go to the forum if you want to debate which individuals and which teams will come out on top.