Boys Invitational Race

Team Race:

While many top teams were shorthanded, it took nothing away from an exciting team battle. Broughton ran without top seniors Jeremy Brown and Robbie Simmons, Mt. Tabor without Kenny Kneisel, and Weddington sat 2 of their top 7. With their three front runners Weddington looked really strong at the midpoint of the race, having their top 3 in the lead pack. They finished the race going 1-4-7, but their 4/5 runners were a little further back than Broughton's and Tabor's. Lanier Derbyshire took the reigns to lead many of his Broughton teammates to PRs and a team championship in the Invitational race. As we have seen the last 5 years in cross country, you can never doubt the depth of any Broughton team. Nelson Russ and Ian Foley led Mt. Tabor with a 5-8 finish as they had a great day overall as a team. Throughout the race Hilton Head (SC) looked to be a contender, but they faded hard over the last mile. The end result was Broughton 97, Weddington 98, Mt. Tabor 99. Despite teams not being at full strength, all these teams looked very strong in the first big race of the season, and you can expect big things from all of the squads near the end of the season.

Individual Race:

Favorites Jeremy Brown and Kenny Kneisel sat out to focus on more important races later in the season. This left a great battle amongst fierce competitors and good friends Mitchell Resor and Matt Conner (Weddington), Zach Marchinko (Jesse Carson), and Alex Cornwell (Hickory Ridge). The four lead a lead pack that also contained Nelson Russ and Ian Foley (Mt. Tabor), Alex Hazan (Weddington), and Ben Gilman (Hilton Head). Emerging at the bottom of the hill, Gilman had a slight lead over the pack as thing had begun to string out. But as the made their way around the lake, Resor, Marchinko, and Cornwell had regained the lead and were all hoping to pull away over the last mile. The three strung out over the last mile, and Resor emerged as the victor running a PR of 15:23. Marchinko, Cornwell, and Conner followed as the three ran 15:31, 15:34, and 15:36 respectfully, which were PRs for all three as well. Russ was not far behind as he had a big PR running 15:38. Lanier Derbyshire (Broughton) closed hard over the last mile to finish 6th and catch Hazan and Foley who were at the back end of the lead pack throughout the race. Hazan and Foley finished 7th and 8th respectively. Someone who stood out to me was Hayden Blalock (Providence). He previously had only broken 17 once in his career thus far, but was mixing it up with the lead group for most of the race. He finished 17th, but was under 16 minutes with teammate Tanner Sutter in what was a really good day for both.

Girls Invitational Race

Team Race:

Green Hope vs Riverside (SC) was a highly anticipated match-up of two contenders for an NXN Southeast bid. Green Hope is known to hold off in early season meets working on team running the first two miles, then closing hard. Riverside is a very young squad with only one senior, and a few 8th graders in their top 10. They were led by 8th grader Jessie Crowley as they placed their whole top 5 girls in the top 20 finishers. Despite holding back for a majority of the race Green Hope was able to place two girls in the top 10 as the finished second to Riverside 49-99. Providence girls were strong through 1-3 runners, and are a team with tons of potential this season. They were your third place team as they took down a lot of strong girls XC programs.

Individual Race:

From the gun we knew that Libby Davidson (E.C. Glass) was going to push an early pace, but we weren't sure if anyone was going to be able to challenge her. 8th grader Jessie Crowley (Riverside, SC) was ready to battle with Davidson and give her a run for her money. Paige McKinney (Hough) was also not afraid to put herself into the mix as she and Davidson led through the first mile. Also in that front pack was Sarah LaTour (Cuthbertson), Savannah Jones (Broughton), Meredith Roberts (Mt. Tabor), Carter Marchbanks (Riverside), and Kayla Glova (Providence). At this point a big group of Green Hope girls led by Elly Henes were sitting in about 30th. As they emerged from the hill, Davidson and Crowley had distanced themselves from the group. LaTour was in front of a pretty long strung out group of girls. Davidson and Crowley put a big distance on the field over the last mile, but the experience of Davidson was too much for Crowley and she was able to take the win in 18:09. Crowley finished right behind in 18:16. Henes rolled over the last mile seeming to have come out of nowhere as she was back in the woods and was able to finish 3rd. Marchbanks was right behind as she held off Jones, and McKinney who all fought hard over the last 100 meters. As they all finished right under 18:40.

Boys Open Race

Team Race:

Walkertown silenced any doubters early in the race as they had their whole top 5 in the top 20 for the entirety of the race and crushed 1A rivals CSD and Gray Stone Day. They beat second place North Lincoln by a score of 51-102. The big story in this team race was solely how strong the top 5 boys of Walkertown looked compared to other 1A rivals. They're fired up for this season and ready to bring a state title back home to a program that has drastically improved year after year.

Individual Race:

Austin Hilburn (North Lincoln) was your early leader, but was being chased down by Nick Simmons (Davie) and Brandon Henandez (AL Brown). Hilburn led through early stages of the race, but around the midway point it was Simmons that took the lead and attempted to run away from Hilburn. But Hilburn answered and reeled him back in over last mile and finshed strong to outlast him running 16:09 to Simmons 16:15. Hernandez also closed hard, but ran out of real estate and finished third in 16:18.

Girls Open Race

Team Race:

Lake Norman Charter School showed that they are going to be a competitive team all season long. With a strong top 2 runners they were able to walk away with a big victory over North Lincoln 91-148. Their top 5 averaged 20:03, which is going to be tough for any other schools in their classification to match. They will be looking to return to the podium with a 2A state title after winning on the 1A level a few years ago.

Individual Race:

Mariah Howlett (Lake Norman Charter) was the leader for the majority of the race followed by Hannah Mercer (North Davidson), teammate Izzy Evely, and Ashlyn Bayadi (Charlotte Catholic). Over the later stages of the race Mercer was able to reel in Howlett and the two would battle head to head to the finish line. In what was a break out performance by Mercer, she was not able to steal the crown from Howlett as the two both put up very impressive times of 18:42 and 18:43. Evely was able to hold on for third as she was able to dip under 19 running 18:57.