After a disappointing regional finish ended their 2013 season early, the Pirates are focused on giving their inspiration a better result in 2014.
The idea of visiting practices isn't new to NCRunners - former MileStat (Virginia) webmaster Brandon Miles did a series of preseason practice visits every summer, and FloTrack has an ongoing series called "The Program" that is similar. When the NCRunners staff was first asked about doing this kind of feature, new reporter Rodger Shull went right out and made a pilot video to see how it would go. Turns out it went very well, and that helped make the decision to turn this into a weekly feature during cross country season. In this first episode, Rodger catches up with his alma mater, Page High School in Greensboro, whose boys were ranked 13th in the Preseason Countdown. In addition to the improvement of Nolan Cook, the team's #1 runner, the Pirates are inspired and motivated by Coach Phil Legnetti as he continues to recover from a battle with cancer. They also have a talented young coach in Liana Blue, daughter of long-time Northeast Guilford coach David Blue. The boys team has had a solid start to the season, currently ranking 4th among Midwest 4A teams, but still has room to improve before the state meet rolls around, and their season ramps up to a higher level next weekend when they head down to McAlpine for the Hare & Hounds Invitational.
Page High School Team Page