Freedom Invitational
Team List
Alexander Central | Ardrey Kell | Ashe Central | Butler | Charlotte Christian | East Burke |
Forestview | Freedom | Hopewell | Mitchell | North Meck | North Surry | R.L. Patton |
Providence | South Meck | South Caldwell | Weddington | Wilkes Central | West Iredell |
Elizabethton (TN) | Hibriten | Marvin Ridge | South Stokes | West Lincoln
Preview
Coach McGimsey of Freedom is excited about this year's Freedom Invitational. He has a total of 366 boys and 332 girls representing 24 teams ready to take to the course on Saturday.
Here is a list of ranked teams from the NCRunners.com Coaches Poll:
Girls
#2 ranked 4A - Providence
#7 ranked 4A - North Meck
#9 ranked 3A - Marviin Ridge
#9 ranked 2A - Wilkes Central
#10 ranked 1A - South Stokes
Boys
#10 ranked 3A - Forestview
#6 ranked 1A - South Stokes
On the girls side Providence is the favorite. They are coming off their win in the Championship race at the Seahawk Invitational last weekend. Will they be at full strength? They are running quite well and no one has seen everything they have yet. North Meck is led by the returning 4A state champion, Kimberly Spano, and has a solid top 3. They could pull off a big upset if their 4 and 5 have improved since the Providence Invitational in August. South Caldwell's girls are strong and have fallen out of the 4A rankings simply because they haven't raced. Coaches aren't very familiar with them, but they are strong. They had a good showing at the WNC CC Carnival and could easily finish top 3 in this meet. They are led by Tara Wilson who will be running up front.
Kimberly Spano should win the girl's race with Tara Wilson and Hannah Orders of Hopewell battling for 2nd. Behind them will be a pack of Providence girls, Freedom's Terra Jackson, North Meck's Hannah Sanborn and Megan Sullivan.
The boy's race should be a good one. Ardrey Kell is coming off a solid run at the Seahawk Invitational and are led by Jack Klecker. Jack ran 16:44 this past weekend for a new personal best. Freedom will be racing on their home course and have looked strong so far this season with their front 3, Daniel Francis, Colton Rodriguez, & James Cagle. If they get stronger at the 4 and 5 spots, they should make it out of the West Region later this season. The Providence team is led by Alex Taylor. There is a large gap back to their #2, but they will look to close it on Saturday. North Meck seems much improved this season and are led by Sean Soderman who has run 16:45. They should also be in the mix for the top 5. I'll throw out my prediction on the top 4 teams - Ardrey Kell, Freedom, North Meck, & Providence.
Alex Taylor should be out front with Sean Soderman, Jack Klecker and Mitchell's Dakota Norris following very closely. Dakota ran 16:23 last year at Hagan Stone and 16:33 at this meet. His first two races haven't been as fast as the 2006 season, so he'll look to improve a lot on this very fast course. Taylor is my pick to win the race as he ran 16:46 early in the heat at the Providence Invitational. Last year he ran 16:41 on the Freedom course; I expect a sub-16:30 performance for the win. Soderman for 2nd in about 16:35, Klecker in 16:41, and Norris in 16:47.