Check out videos from the Open and Invitational races.
Well, as everyone hoped for, we were able to witness 2 of the finest distance runners in North Carolina history do battle in an early season meet. It was everything that the message boards said it would be.
Josey Weaver of Madison and Patick Campbell of Mooresville hung tough with NC's premier boys, Taylor Gilland of Chapel Hill and Ryan Hill of Hickory for a good bit of the race. Patrick Campbell, who has shown incredible improvement over the last couple years, ran an incredible time of 15:47. However, Gilland and Hill, after hitting the 2-mile mark in about 10:09, simply took off. They closed the last mile in somewhere around 4:40. Hill left Gilland with about 300 meters to go, and posted an outstanding time of 15:18, breaking Jack Bolas' record of 15:29. 
Taylor, only a junior, also broke the previous mark running 15:27.
Mooresville's boys team looked VERY good as they easily won the championship race placing their top 5 in the top 29 and top 4 in the top 15. Their goal is NTN, and they may have a shot if they run like this all season. Here's how their top 7 ran:
- 3 Campbell, Patrick 12 Mooresville 15:47.38 2
- 6 Newman, Joseph 11 Mooresville 16:19.87 4
- 9 Cox, Josh 10 Mooresville 16:47.41 7
- 15 Sledge, Graham 11 Mooresville 17:05.56 12
- 29 Martin, Chase 10 Mooresville 17:36.01 25
- 32 Craig, Nathan 12 Mooresville 17:45.28 28
- 45 Brito, Alexander 10 Mooresville 18:02.68 41
Owen HS, voted #1 in the Preseason 2A Coaches Poll, proved they are for real. Coach Cline already has his boys believing they can run with anyone in the state. They defeated a slightly depleted Chapel Hill team, the defending NCISAA champs, Providence Day, and the #2 ranked 3A team, Asheville. They were led by Chris Patino who finished 12th overall.
In the girl's Championship race, TC Roberson looked very strong as always. In this race, were some of the finest girl's teams in the state with Roberson, Asheville, Cardinal Gibbons, Myers Park, and Chapel Hill. TCR rolled to victory with 66 points, 20 ahead of Chapel Hill. They were led by 3A XC state champ, Caroline Kirby, who ran 19:19.
Chapel Hill's girls scored 86 points, led by Ahna Weeks, just a 9th grader. Chapel Hill packed it pretty well as they always seem to do early in the season. Their top 5 were only separated by 40 seconds.
Heather Beichner, one of NC's finest female runners, who owns a personal best of 18:10, pulled away from the field to win in 19:05. Heather is the defending 2A state champ as is her Cardinal Gibbons' team. Gibbon's looked strong today as they try and defend their title, as they placed 3rd with 88 points.
In the girl's invite race, Forsyth Country Day, last year's 3A NCISAA state champs won with a low score of 58 points. They were led by Emily Branch, and placed 4 in the top 13 and 5 in the top 26. Charlotte Latin's girls who look much improved were led by freshman, Haylee Dawe and placed 2nd overall as a team. Look for a great battle for the state title this season in the NCISAA, adding in Cary Academy and Providence Day to the mix.
Sarah Willingham of North Henderson ran away with the individual title, only racing the bike on the course. Sarah ran 19:25, which was the 3rd fastest of the day, despite having hotter conditions and no one to race. 2nd place was Freedom's Terra Jackson in 20:37, who ran 22:11 at the same meet last year.
The boy's race was dominated at the front by Freedom, as they took the top 3 spots. Daniel Francis won the race with a time of 17:08. His teammates, Colin Rodriquez and James Cagle also broke 17:40 running 17:16 and 17:38. Freedome will need to improve at the #4 and #5 spots if they plan to make it out of 4A West Region.
Chapel Hill's "B" team won the Invitational race led by 9th grader William Bunch in 17:55. Forsyth Country Day, led by Taylor Twine's new PR of 17:39, finished 2nd overall as a team.
The boy's open race was won by Hickory's Clark Sellers due to a disqualification of Enka's runners. A recent graduate from Enka paced along for a bit more than a mile, so the original winner from Enka has been DQ'd. There is no pacing in XC events. If you're a parent, coach, or fellow athlete, make sure you NEVER run next to or with someone who is racing. Providence Day's "C" team won the team over TC Roberson after being tied through 5 runners due to PD's 6th runner coming in before TCR's.
The girl's open race was won by Enka's Dana McAfoos, also a sophomore, in 22:20. TCR's girls easly won the team title with a low of 28 points.
Check out videos from the Open and Invitational races.
Well, as everyone hoped for, we were able to witness 2 of the finest distance runners in North Carolina history do battle in an early season meet. It was everything that the message boards said it would be.