**Durham Academy ranked here before news of Will Hopkins transferring
Key Losses
Will Hopkins - Transferred to Broughton
Key Returners
2015 End of Season Rank -
2016 Preseason Rank based of 2015 times -
2015 NCISAA 3A State Championship - 2nd
Durham Academy looked ready to dethrone 2015 NCISAA 3A Cary Academy, but with the loss of Will Hopkins, who was Durham Academy's top guy from last year state meet, will make it a little tougher but not impossible. They will look for someone to fill Hopkins shoes, and Ethan Goldman might be that guy. Goldman had a very strong track season running 4:29 as a sophomore. He should be ready for a big leap this fall. Neil Mosca returns with the best PR of the squad with a 16:35. He had a strong track season running 10:04 and 4:35, and that is just from his freshman season! Mosca will evolve from a rookie to a veteran on the XC course this fall.
Mark Alkins doesn't have many races under his belt, and must be a multi sport athlete or had injury problems during his freshman season. He has run three XC races and 2 track races, and ran 1:58 for 800 as a frosh! If Alkins becomes healthy or moves his focus towards XC he could be a superstar for years to come! Another rising sophomore Nick Epstein hasn't run XC before but did put together some strong results during the spring track season! Epstein ran 4:43 at the NCISAA 3A State Meet. Jack Anderson, yes another rising sophomore, also joined the sub 5 club in the spring running 4:55.
Durham Academy has one of the strongest groups of freshman I've seen, and will obviously be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. Despite the loss of Hopkins I believe that this team will stick to their youth and pull someone out of the woodwork to fill his roll. I still think they have the potential and capability to challenge the 3A favorite Cary Academy at the end of the season. They'll definitely be a team to keep an eye on during this season!