Greensboro Invitational
Haganstone Park
Results
Photo Gallery: JV Boys | JV Girls | Developmental Boys | Developmental Girls
Video: Invite Boys | Invite Girls | Championship Boys | Championship Girls | Taylor Gilland interview
Cardinal Gibbons really showed up today at Haganstone Park. Heather Beichner led Gibbons with her win in 18:46. Heather started out under control and heading into the woods, just after 800m, was only in about 5th place. Beichner knows how to race, she is a very smart runner. Look for her to run very fast next week at McAlpine.
Molly Baker was 2nd on the team and 5th overall in 19:27.5. Their 3rd runner also cracked 20:00, as Leah Vaughn ran 19:46.4. Freshman Sarah Rapp came across in 20:05.7 and finally Gibbon's 5th, Halsey Merritt, finished in 20:17.7. Their team average was a very quick 19:40.9. Gibbon's was recently ranked 4th by coaches in the All-Classification rankings, but with this performance they may have jumped to #1. Chapel Hill, who was 3rd in the race, was voted #1 and Gibbons defeated them by 35 points. They also defeated Science Hill out of Tennessee. Science Hill is one of the top ranked TN teams and is receiving votes in NTN SE Regional Rankings. Gibbons bettered them by 30 points on the day. Well done, ladies.
Freshman Jodie Lemons of South Stokes, a 1A school, ran 19:23.8 to finish 4th overall. Jodie has been running well all season, but this is her first high profile meet. Last year, Zatha Loewen, won the 1A state title as a 9th grader and Jodie has her sights set on the same goal. This could be one of the most competitive 1A state title runs in meet history. With Elizabeth Humphries, 19:28 this season, Jodie, Zatha, East Wilkes and Bishop McGuinness - look out!
Taylor Gilland won the boy's invitational race as expected. His time of 15:36 moves him into the top 5 all-time on the course, but he wanted to run a bit faster. Taylor ran without competition for most of the way, but that will change next week at the Wendy's Invitational as Peter Dorell, yesterday's Maymont Invitational winner, will be in Charlotte as well.
Green Hope's boys got the win as they placed their top 5 from 15th to 26th. Zak Roshdy, their usual number 1, had an off day but because of the very strong pack, they still held off Chapel Hill, 79 to 101. Zak has been their number 1 runner for 2 straight years, but today was 5th on the team. Douglas Black led the way today with his 16:36.9. Their top 5 was only separated by 22 seconds. Green Hope is currently ranked 3rd in the 4A Coaches Poll and also received votes to be ranked in the NTN SE Top 10. This is a young team that has high expectations for themselves.
Chapel Hill finished 2nd on the day with 101 points. When you have Taylor Gilland on your team you can expect a very low score for your #1. Jack Marshall ran much better at Haganstone, finishing 10th in 16:31. Peter Anderson was 3rd in 17:05.4. Now, this is where it gets very interesting. Chapel Hill's actualy 4th and 5th on the day came out of the Develpmental race. Liam Stott and Asher Colburn-Hertzberg went 1, 2 in that race running times of 17:11.3 and 17:12.6. Would that have changed the overall outcome of the Championship race . . . NO, but would it have made it much closer . . . YES. I was amazed at the depth, sub 18:00 performers by Chapel Hill on the day. They had 15 athletes on the day in 3 different race meet the new NCRunners.com standard. Scary thing, a number of these kids are 9th and 10th graders.
Zach Brantley of Northern Nash looked very good in the Championship Race as he finished 2nd overall in 16:06, a new PR. Zach is in a tough classification with Ryan Hill and Patrick Campbell but look for him to be in the battle for 3rd place at the state championships come November.
Another athlete who stepped up today was sophomore, Chase Christianson of Terry Sanford. Chase ran a huge PR today, hitting 16:27.8, for 7th overall. His previous best came at the Seahawk Invite where he ran 17:22.
West Henderson won the boy's Invitational Race with a very solid front 4. Dylan Ellison led them with his 17:07.3 and 9th place finish. The next 4 all placed in the top 16 and ran 17:18, 17:23, & 17:23. This team is improving and will try to make a run at Owen in November for the 2A state title.
Mark Sullivan of Cardinal Gibbons ran his best race of the season by far. Mark came into the season with some pretty high expectations after such a successful 9th grade year. Today he ran 16:16.5 for the win and put his name back on the map for a possible state title in the 2A race.
Nash Central and Charlotte Catholic finished 2nd and 3rd overall. Nash Central was led by Dillon Hawley's 4th place finish and 16:39. Nash Central is going to need to close the gap from their #2 to their #5 if they want to make some noise at the 3A state championships. For Catholic, Jake Lewis, finished 33rd in 17:45. However, they have a much closer pack than Nash Central. 1-4 were only 17 seconds and their 5th was 43 seconds back.
In the girl's Invite race, Forsyth Country Day defeated Charlotte Catholic 94 to 105. Forsyth was led by Emily Branch who finished 4th in 20:20. They had 2 more athletes, Hollis Lineberger and Elizabeth Lang finish in the top 20, running 20:51 and 21:04. Forsyth was without one of their usual top 5 runners, but she should be back for their next race. Forsyth has their eyes set on their 2nd NCISAA state title in a row.
Charlotte Catholic is beginning to run very well. Maggie McBride led the way for them with her 20:15 and 3rd place finish. After Maggie there was a gap back to #2, as Gigi Gunderson ran 21:10. Their 2 - 5 were separated by 52 seconds.
Maegan Whiting of North Raleigh Christian looked very good in the race as she won with a time of 19:42. Maegan was unable to attend the NCISAA Preview Meet but she is definitely running for a top 5 finish at the championships in October.
Northern Nash's Hilary McKenney also turned in a solid performance finishing 2nd overall. Her time was 20:09, a new PR.