The 2007 Jungle Run looks like a preview of the 4A East Regional. Look for a fun night with some solid racing coming from Saturday night's races. NCRUNNERS.com will be in attendance, taking video of all the races.
Team list for 2007 Jungle Run
1. Southern Nash (3A)
2. Scotland County (4A)
3. Eastern Wayne (3A)
4. Orange County (2A)
5. Northwood (2A)
6. Wake-Forest Rolesville (4A)
7. JH Rose (4A)
8. New Hanover (4A)
9. Jack Britt (4A)
10. Northern Durham (4A)
11. Pinecrest (4A)
12. Wilmington Hoggard (4A)
13. South View (4A)
14. Terry Sanford (4A)
15. Union Pines (3A)
16. White Oak (3A)
17. Wilmington Laney (4A)
18. Southeast Raleigh (4A)
19. Chatham Central (1A)
20. D.H. Conley H.S. (3A)
21. Wilson Fike (3A)
22. South Central (3A)
23. Pine Forest (4A)
24. Rocky Mount Prep (3A)
25. Cape Fear (4A)
26. Seventy-First (4A)
Boys: Team's & Invidual's to Watch
Pinecrest, ranked 7th in the NCRUNNERS.com 4A Coaches Poll - Pinecrest should be considered one of the favorites in this competition with the host school, South View. Word is that Pinecrest may have some injuries that may hurt them up front, but if healthy, Brett Baggett should lead them. Brett ran 16:23 last year and ran a 9:55 2-mile during track. Look for Mark Moon to also be near the front with a PR of 16:37.
South View, ranked 5th in the NCRUNNERS.com 4A Coaches Poll - South View looked very solid last weekend at the Providence Invite. In my opinion, they are the favorites for the win. The Tigers are led by 71st transfer, Dwayne Townsend Jr., and Derrick Poage, both of whom ran big PR's in the first meet of the year. Dwayne ran 16:28 with Poage at 16:31. Both of these runners could see sub-16:15 on this fast course. South View also has a lot of depth, so look for them to place many athletes in the top 20.
Hoggard - Charles Wofford, who had a very solid sophomore year, will look to open up his Invitational season with a big race. Wofford just won a meet in Wilmington on Thursday defeating Andre Smith of White Oak by a few seconds. I expect Wofford to be up at the front battling for the individual title. Look for Hoggard to finish among the top teams as well. This really has 4A East Regional Preview written all over it.
White Oak, ranked 6th in the NCRUNNERS.com 3A Coaches Poll - Andre Smith is a talented runner and will hope to run near the front. At last year's Jungle Run he ran 16:33 and finished 7th overall. His PR is 16:31 from FL South, if training has gone well this season, look for a new PR.
Seventy-First - John Miller is the top runner for 71st and comes in with a PR of 16:53. John should be in contention for a top 10 finish on Saturday.
Northern Durham - Marquez Harris ran 17:12 at the 2006 Jungle Run. He later ran a PR of 17:01 for Northern Durham at the Wendy's Invitational. Possibly a top 15 finish for Marquez.
Jack Britt - H. Kozisek ran 17:13 for Jack Britt at last year's Jungle Run. That went on to be his PR for the season, so I'm sure he'd like to get back to that form early. I'm not sure if Jordan Locklear is running XC, but he had a fine track season that went late into the summer.
Girls: Team's & Invidual's to Watch
Pinecrest, ranked 5th in the NCRUNNERS.com 4A Coaches Poll - On paper the Pinecrest girls look to be very good. They return four girls who ran under 20:30 last year. They are led by Lauren Bishop who ran 19:57 last year and a 5:26 during the 2007 track season. She should be battling for the overall victory at the 2007 Jungle Run. Look for the Pinecrest girls to take the title over a couple other teams from the East.
Terry Sanford - Terry Sanford should qualify for the 4A state meet this year with two sub-21:00 5k'ers returning this year. Cory Catlett, Aimee Rider, & Taylor Gilbert all met the NCRUNNERS.com elite standard last year and will look to battle for the team title on Saturday.
Northwood, ranked 3rd in the NCRUNNERS.com 2A Coaches Poll - Kathryn Dispennette had a great 2006 XC season and along with her teammate Whitfield they should be a top 5 team at the 2007 Jungle Run. Both of these ladies have the talent and times to be at the front of this race. Look for top 5 finishes if their summers have gone well.
White Oak, ranked 8th in teh NCRUNNERS.com 3A Coaches Poll - Sarah Hart has had a tough summer and isn't where she would like to be right now. She raced on Thursday but no where near her 19:10 PR from last year. I won't count Sarah out for a top 10 finish, but she will be racing herself into shape this season.
South View, ranked 9th in the NCRUNNERS.com 4A Coaches Poll - Jakobie Smith ran 21:17 at McAlpine last week under tough conditions. Look for he to improve upon that time by a good bit and finish top 10 in this meet. She ran 20:17 last year.
Fike - Laura Hanson ran 20:23 last year at the 2006 state meet. She also had a very good track season, running a 5:26 and 11:57. Not sure if too many girls know who she is, so she could suprise some people.