Boys XC Preseason Rankings: #23

<p> <span style="font-size: 13.63636302947998px;">NCRunners is counting down the top 25 boys teams heading into the fall season. &nbsp;The full rankings will be released on the first day of official practice: Friday, August 1st. &nbsp;These are subjective rankings (not computer generated); they take into account returning team rankings, returning team averages, team rankings in the 1600 and 3200 from indoor and outdoor track, and a school&#39;s &quot;Improvement Rating.&quot; &nbsp;Improvement Rating is a custom metric developed by researching the improvement in a team&#39;s 5-person average from year to year, in comparison to that same team&#39;s ranking. &nbsp;Improvement Rating numbers and methodology will be released on the weekend of August 2nd.</span></p>

South Mecklenburg returns a full top 7 - including 5 rising seniors - to try to write a season sending that will make them forget last year's.

 

	South Mecklenburg (NC)
	1) Ryan Kavanaugh		16:55.00	157
	2) Ben Talbert		16:55.00	158
	3) William Adam Thomas		16:59.00	169
	4) Drew Kromer		16:59.00	170
	5) Eric Procunier		17:45.00	392
	Average Time: 17:06.60 Total Time: 1:25:33.00 1-5 Split: 50.00
	6) Henry Crew		17:54.00	443
	7) Niclas Danner		17:58.00	466

This is the deepest team among this tier of the rankings, and the pack-running opportunities are obvious.  A four-man lead pack separated by only 4 seconds leads the way, and this is the first team in the rankings to have all 7 returners under 18 minutes.  Ben Talbert, one of a growing number of high school runners that also compete in triathlons, may have emerged as the leader of the front group with a solid spring season, but in general the Sabres did not post eye-catching track times.  If the returning 5th-7th runners can close the gap on that front four, and South Mecklenburg can put 5 or 6 guys under 17 minutes, they will likely be in the final top 20 once the fall season is over.  This team projects as the 4th-best team in the 4A West, which is relatively wide open, and with a solid summer that could improve.  That would, of course, get the Sabres into the state meet, which should be the major goal for this group.  With 5 seniors in this year's returning top 7, leadership certainly shouldn't be an issue!  Nor should mativation - all 7 of their runners are back from an extremely disappointing performance at the regional last year, and memories like that can be the catalyst for serious improvement.

Important Data:

• 2013 XC Returning Team Ranking: 22nd

• 5-Year Improvement Rating: 4.426 (25th)

• 3-Year Improvement Rating: 3.316 (28th)