Thanks to the following coaches for helping compile votes: South View's Jesse Autry, Charlotte Catholic's Brian McMahon, Bishop McGuinness' Robert Youtz, and Cardinal Gibbons' Derek Fenton.
Teams with an * next to them received 1st place votes.
Chapel Hill returns a large number of girls who met last years NCRUNNERS elite standard of 21:00. They do lose Kristina Witcher, supposed to be their 3rd fastest returnee, to Carrboro HS, but still have depth. Providence’s girls, who received votes in the NTN Preseason poll comes in 2nd. They have been chasing Chapel Hill for the last two years, but this may be the year they are back on top. East Chapel Hill may be the most overlooked team as they are only ranked 6th in the preseason poll. It should be a tight battle for the #3 spot as the season gets underway. Myers Park received the 3rd most votes with a strong group and a new coach in ex-Parkwood coach, Bryan Brown.
Breakdown by region – West: 4, Midwest: 2, Mideast: 3, East: 1.
4A Girls
1 Chapel Hill *2 Providence
3 Myers Park
4 North Mecklenburg
5 Pinecrest
6 East Chapel Hill
7 Green Hope
8 South Caldwell
9 Weddington
10 Mount Tabor
Also receiving votes: Apex, Jordan, South Mecklenburg, Cary, Watauga, Broughton, Leesville Rd., NW Guilford, Terry Sanford, South View
Chapel Hill’s boys have been to Nike Team Nationals for 2 years in a row and return one of the nation’s top runners in Taylor Gilland. They received all the first place votes, but don’t be surprised if some other teams in the Mideast challenge them for the state title. Enloe, Broughton, and Green Hope return a lot of talent and showed depth during last track season. (Just a side note: Green Hope has 194 boys & girls out for XC) East Forsyth could also be much stronger this year. Should be very interesting to see what 800/1600 stud Dylan Ferris does in his final XC season.
Breakdown by region – West: 2, Midwest: 1, Mideast: 5, East: 2.
4A Boys
1 Chapel Hill *
2 Enloe
3 Broughton
4 Green Hope
5 Pinecrest
6 East Forsyth
7 Myers Park
8 Ardrey Kell
9 South View
10 Cary
Also receiving votes: West Johnston, Mount Tabor, Watauga, Apex, Hoggard, East Chapel Hill, NW Guilford, Providence, Weddington