This Saturday at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, NC the four 4A state titles will be awarded. Two of those titles will go to individuals and two of them will go to teams.
All season, Chapel Hill\'s boys and girls have been ranked #1 in the Coaches Poll and #1 in the NCrunners.com rankings. Chapel Hill\'s boys are currently ranked #2 in the Southeast region and are trying to earn their 2nd consecutive NTN birth. A year after they lost their top 3 runners, Coach Olson has done some great work to get his team back in the mix. Transfer, Taylor Gilland has been a huge key to that success. Taylor, only a sophomore, has already run one of the fastest times in the state this year, with his 15:25 clocking at the Wendy\'s Invitational. The Chapel Hill girls were ranked in the SE region for the majority of the season, and I\'m sure they would like to jump back on the list.
Both of Chapel Hill\'s teams are coming into the 4A state meet as the favorites. As we saw last year though, being the favorite isn\'t always a comfortable spot. Chapel Hill barely hung on last year to defeat a very talented Pinecrest team by a mere 1 pt.
There are plenty of teams on the girls and guys side who are licking their chops, waiting to be the team to knock off the Chapel Hill squad.
Individually, Andy Wacker comes in as the favorite to win the 4A title. His impressive showing last year at the state meet and his 15:50 two weeks ago, shows he is strong on the Tanglewood course. However, don\'t count out some othe top runners in the state. Dakota Lowery of West Johnston was only 3 seconds by Wacker at McAlpine in early October. Taylor Gilland and John Curtiss, Providence, were also very close to Wacker. Then there is freshman stud from Enloe, Nick Graw. His regional race looked to be top-notch, as he ran 15:53, and finished 3 seconds behind Gilland. Expect Sam Mordecai from Broughton to be up there as well, he has had a strong season. Myers Park\'s Ross Hughes has had some close runs with John Curtiss recently, so don\'t count him out either.
The girls race returns the top runners from last year. Callan Fike, last year\'s winner, is rumored to have been injured most of the season. However, her 18:55 at the regional meet shows she may be coming back into form at the right time. The favorite is Andie Cozzarelli, last year\'s runner-up. Cozzarelli just beat Fike at the regional by 15 seconds, and ran a very impressive 18:04 at the Wendy\'s Invitational. Sophomore Kimberly Spano will likely push the pace early as she often does. She broke 19:00 on the Tanglewood course 2 weeks ago. Spano\'s time would have put her 2nd last year, so look for her to aiming for the title. Then there are others: Jordan\'s Michelle Lutz didn\'t even qualify last year and is now looking for a top 5 finish. Mount Tabor\'s Courtney Whittington is running close to home and has run well at Tanglewood. Also, Chapel Hill has a couple girls who should be up front, in Becky Johnson and Madison Stark. Tara Wilson of South Caldwell began her season very strong and continues to run well. A new name on the scene is Myers Parks, Allison Hofmann. She just won the West Regional and ran an impressive 18:53 at Mcalpine earlier this season.
Boys Teams
West Region:
Myers Park - ranked #2 in 4A, led by Ross Hughes, Coach Cline will have his boys ready to roll
Watauga - a surprise 2nd in the West Region, they looked strong, with the running of Brooks Forsyth closer to Nelson, they are much better
Weddington - began the season with a bang, let\'s see how they end it
Providence - ran incredibly at Wendy\'s with a very strong top 3, haven\'t shown that same ability recently, but if their top 3 are on, they are dangerous
Midwest Region:
NW Guilford - led by Ryan Kaat, they\'ve been up and down, winning the regional is a good way to go into states though, on the up
East Forsyth - they have 2 guys up front, freshman Patrick Crawford and track stud, Dylan Ferris
Mount Tabor - Greg Dame could be top 10, but after that they need to find some depth
North Mecklenburg - not as strong as they were last year, solid effort to make the state meet
Mideast Region:
Chapel Hill - #2 in the SE region, #1 in the state all season, enough said
Broughton - they have a solid front 2 runners and then a young pack, the pack will determine their finish
Enloe - busted out at the Seahawk Invite with flying colors, looked to be a team that could battle Chapel Hill, haven\'t remained as strong, but could be dangerous if they are clicking at the right time
Green Hope - they have a pretty tight group, 1-5 only about 30 seconds off one another, packs are good in big meets, we\'ll see
East Region:
Pinecrest - a strong team led by Andy Wacker, Jr. Brett Baggett, their #2 will be crucial
West Johnston - not just Dakota Lowery, they proved at Wendy\'s that they have some other runners to go along with him, they could be a surprise team
South View - Coach Autry will have his team ready, he always does
Hoggard - sophomore Charles Wofford is running well, again, they ran well to make it to states this year
Girls Teams
West Region:
Providence - probably the next best team behind Chapel Hill, they will go out and attack, they have experience in Todd and Hetherington
South Meck - early on they didn\'t impress, however, as of late they are looking more and more like the team people thought they would, could it be a top 5 finish?
Myers Park - led by Allison Hofmann and Amy Higgins, they have a 5th now, something they didn\'t have at Wendy\'s, this is bad news for a lot of teams
Weddington - again, like the boys, began the season with a bang, let\'s see how they end it
Midwest Region:
North Meck - Kimberly Spano will run well, the key is Sanborn and White
NW Guilford - Gillespie is solid and capable of a top 10 finish, team is as well
Mount Tabor - not nearly as strong as the past, but with Whittington and Bowden running towards the front, they could do well in a bigger field
Greensboro Grimsley - happy to be in the state meet, don\'t know anything about them
Mideast Region:
Chapel Hill - team to beat, solid 1-5 spread all season
Broughton - Booth and Finch must run well up front for them to do well
Jordan - a team that is very happy to make it this year, they were on a mission early on in August, attitude hasn\'t changed
Green Hope - are they better than their 4th in the region? One would think they should\'ve finished 2nd, I guess we\'ll see come Saturday
East Region:
Pinecrest - McKinney will be up front, and behind her they are solid, 5th runner will need a better run that at regionals for them to finish top 3
Terry Sanford - they have a good top 4, but 5 runners score, could surprise some teams
South View - to be honest, it\'s a weak region for girls, SV has talent, we\'ll see if they show it off on Sat.
Hoggard - happy to be at the state meet