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Girls Open Race
Natalie Tyner (Laney) stands alone as the only girl with a sub 18 PR and races her first big meet since Jungle Run. Will the sophomore be able to improve on her impressive NC #1 mark on a fast McAlpine course? Freshman Olivia Henn (Eastside, SC) is coming off of a fast race two weekends ago where she broke 19 for the first time running 18:39. She holds the second fastest PR amongst the field and will look to drop her time even more. She ran at Providence Invitational and finished 8th.
Holly Bailey (Lake Norman) has had a really strong bounce back year after being injured the last two seasons. She ran 19:08 two weeks ago at the adidas Challenge and will hope to break 19 for the first time since 2014. Cameron Smithwick (Laney) has been off to a hot start this season and broke 19 at Jungle Run with an 18:55. She took 2nd behind teammate Tyner at the Bo Run two weeks ago.
Lindsey Lanier and Sarah Parrish have looked strong early on this season, they haven't ran many fast course so their times aren't reflected as so. Lanier was 9th at both Friday Night Lights and Providence Invitational earlier this season, and will hope to run fast on a cool morning tomorrow.
Hilton Head brings a strong group of girls with their top 6 all running under 20 so far this year. They will be missing their top girl Miyah Shatz, which could leave the door open for Eastside and Laney to challenge. Eastside has a strong top 2 in Henn and Madison Ellis. Laney has a strong top three, and need a strong day from their 4th and 5th runner if they want to walk away with the team title.
Boys Open Race
Brothers Ben and Sam Gilman (Hilton Head) are back at McAlpine after having a successful season opener at month ago at Providence Invitational. Ben was outkicked by Dolan Owens for the win at that meet, and will be hungry to claim the victory this weekend. Younger brother Sam was 4th at Providence and holds a season's best mark of 15:53. They will be challenged by Noah White (Eastside, GA) who has ran three straight PRs over the last three weeks with a 15:39 most recently. He was also at Providence where he took 6th place in 16:28. Evan Harris (Lake Norman) was third in that race in 16:17 and is looking to bounce back after an off day at the adidas XC Challenge two weeks ago.
Some other guys in this field that have run fast times over previous seasons are Thomas Wade (Eastside, GA), Joshua Bowers (Blythewood, SC), Ben Clark (Clover, SC) and Ryan Kendall (Ardrey Kell).
The team battle looks to be tight between Hilton Head and Eastside. Eastside will need a big day from their 4/5 if they want to walk away with the team title. Providence and Marvin Ridge are the top NC teams entered into this field, and both have been dealing with injuries early in the season.