Boys Race of Champions
Connor Lane (Cardinal Gibbons), Coleman Mitchell (Cary Academy) and David Melville (Northern Guilford) head back to WakeMed after going 1-2-3 at the adidas XC Challenge two weeks ago, where they all three set new PRs. Lane decided to attend Great American over Wendy's in hopes to defend his home turf against the strong competition from out of state. He holds the second fastest time on the season out of the whole field and hopes to continue on the tremendous success he's had on the fast WakeMed course.
Coleman Mitchell was sick at adidas, but that didn't hold him back from setting a new PR of 15:21. If he is now healthy and feeling 100% I'd expect the fast field to be able to pull him to new PR this weekend. He has the 4th best time on the season in the field and should be in that top group this weekend. Melville ran 15:22 two weeks ago on this course, and said he didn't feel like they were pushing the pace too hard. This really opened his eyes to how good of shape he is in and I'd expect him to improve on his mark from 2 weeks ago.
Peyton Barish (Green Hope) and Ian Shanklin (Page) are both due for a fast performance. Barish ran 15:47 in early September at Knights Crossing and has put in a strong 3 week training block. WakeMed's course ran fastest than Knights Crossing did two weeks ago, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him under 15:30 this weekend. Shanklin is coming off a big win over 2015 Footlocker Finalist Micah Pratt last week at the Greensboro Invitational. Shanklin doesn't get to run fast courses too often and said last week hes ready to show how good of shape he is in. Nathan Gamble (Leesville Road) also had a strong showing with a 15:42 at the adidas XC Challenge and will look to improve on that mark this weekend.
Broughton boys come in 2nd in the team scores from out virtual meet behind NXN Southeast rival Brentwood (TN). They've only raced at the adidas XC Challenge where they had 5 guys under 16:06 with just a 16 second split to separate them. As impressive as that performance was, they have much higher expectations from themselves.
Green Hope and Cary Academy have stood out early on this season amongst teams in NC. Green Hope is a very young team with mostly juniors in their top 7.Their top 3 of Barish, Ian Delgado and Finn McBride have been strong this season and should easily make it 3 boys under 16 for Green Hope this weekend. Cary Academy's top 3 is very similar to Green Hopes. Coleman Mitchell gives them a solid low stick and Tommy Bright and Chase Coley both were at or under 16:00 two weeks ago.
Girls Race of Champions
Cary Academy are the sole NC girls team entered in this field and they are lead by Sarah Bodmer. They've had a few hiccups with injuries early on this season with Emily Lane missing some time. Freshman twins Ava and Lia Lathan have been impressive early on in their HS careers and ran 19:18 at the adidas Challenge two weeks ago. If healthy they can be a top 5 team tomorrow, but if not the depth beyond the 5th runner might hold them back a little bit.
Melissa Zammitti (Davidson Day) is entered in this race as an individual and dropped a huge PR of 18:14 at Hare & Hounds two weeks ago. If you add her to the virtual meet that places her in the #4 spot just in front of Sarah Bodmer. Two years ago their were 8 girls in under 18 minutes. So if history repeats itself, Zammitti and Bodmer should be in for a fast race.
Boys Town of Cary Seeded Invitational
Tucker Cera and Luke Gostling (Millbrook) headline the field and come in at 2nd and 4th respectively in the virtual meet. They both posted big PRs two weekends ago on this course of 15:27 and 15:45. The pair come in at #11 and #17 respectively on our Saucony Flo50 Rankings and both should be able to challenge for the win, and hope to lead their team to a top 5 finish against a field loaded with out of state talent.
Girls Town of Cary Seeded Invitational
Broughton and Wake Forest will square off against some tough out of state competition. They come in at 3rd and 4th respectively in the virtual meet. Savannah Jones was not where she would have liked to be two weeks ago at the adidas XC Challenge with a 19:21 29th place finish after going out hard. She will look to bounce back and contend with the top girls in this section. Wake Forest's team has been more and more impressive the more they race this season, and I'd expect them to do so once again this weekend.