Submitted by Larry Salley, Porter-Gaud coach
The two JV runners were talking fast, possibly faster than they had run earlier in the day. "Did you hear that both of those guys just broke the course record?" The other nodded. Sorry, kids--this is McAlpine Park. The meet record for the Hare & Hounds Invitational went down on Saturday, and the top two runners both notched the top marks for their home states (S.C. and Georgia) so far this season. But Sean McGorty's 14:28 is still safe.
Photo courtesy of ncrunners.com.
The Hare & Hounds meet began three years ago as an alternative meet for private schools shut out of the Wendy's Invitational by NFHS sanctioning rules to have a shot to race in McAlpine Park prior to Foot Locker South. Put on by Metrolina Christian Academy, it has grown dramatically, and now attracts teams from all over the southeast. This year, the team that traveled the farthest was Castle View High School of Colorado.
The individual battle in the boys' race was a duel between junior Austin Sprague of St. Pius X Catholic School, from Atlanta, Ga, and senior Brent Demarest of Porter-Gaud School, from Charleston. Sprague is defending Georgia Class AAA state champion, and Demarest the S.C. Independent Schools' state champion.
Hugh Knight, coach of Demarest and the Porter-Gaud Cyclones said, "We wanted to come back up here and compete at McAlpine, but it was hard to justify the long trip with the Lake Murray Invitational back home the same weekend, especially with the great times being run in S.C. this year. As soon as I saw St. Pius on the entry list, I knew we would have a chance to run fast."
The front pack strung out early, with Demarest leading Sprague through the first mile. Sprague made a move at the hill, taking a 5-meter lead and holding it until they came out of the woods and began the first loop of the lake. Demarest closed the gap before the two-mile mark, which the pair passed in 9:45, this time with Demarest about three meters ahead. From that point on, although the pace varied, the gap held constant until they came in at 15:09 and 15:10, both well below the previous meet record of 15:51.
On the boys' team side, there was far less drama. The team from St. Pius X was dominant in every race. Even though their usual number two runner, Stephen Ferrugia, was taking the ACT, the Lions averaged 16:22 to easily outpace second place Millbrook by over 40 points. In the "Invitational" division, the Lions' second seven swept the first four places to win. And in the boys' JV race, they took seven of the top nine places.
Porter-Gaud's Knight complimented the overall strength of the field, "It's amazing how much this meet has grown. We won this race two years ago. We averaged a few seconds faster per man this year, and took seven. It's encouraging to see performances this good in September. Brent ran 15:06 on this course at Foot Locker South last November, and our other two returning all-state guys were within 30 seconds of their PR's. Our four other veterans all had lifetime PR's each of the last two weeks." Whenever you can start a new season so close to your all-time best, it bodes well for later in the year."
The girls' championship meet also was marked by several strong performances. Malia Ellington of the Community School of Davidson led four girls under 19 minutes with a time of 18:49. The team title went to Castle View. The. Colorado squad averaged 19:42 and beat Millbrook by only five points. Millbrook's second squad beat Ardrey Kell for the title in the Invitational division.