Michael Phelp=a beast.Truly amazing what he has accomplished so far.That relay race against the French (who I think were wearing berets instead of swim caps) one of the greatest moments in sports that I’ve seen.That being said-if track athletes were to win their respected events and break world records at the same time, would they get the same fanfare as Phelps? Uhhhhh…NO.
If Phelps declares The Wire as his favorite show, then he’s my favorite athlete.
Team Handball-how does the USA not dominate this sport?The USOC needs to plunk down a couple millions to get this sport off the ground.
Olympic controversy: Air quality: bad. Did you see the Men’s cycling road race?The air was atrocious.Where was the outcry from the media?
Controversy #2: The opening ceremony.It involves the girl lip-singing the song.This type of superficial attitude only exists in America.Now we just need introduce China to capitalism and we can all sleep at night.
Controversy #3: The Men’s Basketball team for Spain: your ad that you did where you slit your eyes…ummm that’s not good for business.That’s not good for anyone.
2A Preview
2A West
Owen-loses 2 AllState runners, Will Canon and Chris Patino, from their championship team from last year.Can they recover from this?They are going to have to stay healthy if they want to repeat, because their main rival in the region is West Henderson who finished right behind them at the state meet and will be right behind them the entire year.
Interesting fact that I might find interesting: If you look at the 2A State Meet both Owen and West Henderson return their 3,5,6,7 runners.
The other two teams that I see advancing from the region are Brevard and Wilkes Central.Wilkes Central has a solid 1-2, but they are going to need some help from the other guys if they want to make some noise.Brevard is a team that has to find a legit guy that is going to run with the lead pack if they want to close the gap between them and the other teams in the region.
Cool Nickname: The Owen Warhorses.Now that is a nickname.It gets straight to the point, sounds intimidating, and even though I have no idea what a warhorse is I wouldn’t want to mess with one.
Ladies
West Henderson, East Henderson, and North Henderson-what do they all have in common?They each have Henderson in their name (NCRunner’s is keeping it simple).I think these teams are the top three in the region.North Henderson has the top returning athlete from the state meet, Sarah Willingham-that works in their favor.West Henderson has the top six athletes from the state meet returning, but they need to work on the fifth runner.While East Henderson had four freshmen run at the state meet, and returns their entire top 7.
With that being said are picks: West Henderson, East Henderson, North Henderson, and Wilkes Central.
2A Midwest
Old Memories: We competed and coached in this region.Nothing beats running in the cow pastures at West Stanley or the jungle at Mount Pleasant.
Bad Old Memories: Senior Year 1999-the Catholic Cross Country team actually had a pep rally before the State Meet.Our team was thought to be a challenger to win it all.The best runner on the team, Brent Matthews, got on the mike and got into it.Our main rival was Salisbury, and he claimed he was going to turn them into Salisbury steak.Well Catholic choked big time at the State Meet and Brent didn’t turn anyone into Salisbury steak.
The Rocky River champion will once again be the top team in the region for the Men.West Stanley lead by their top runner, Daniel Yeakley, who from what I’ve been told has been putting in the miles, will win by a wide margin.A team that needs to work on its depth is East Lincoln-they return their Top 7 but depth is a question.That’s why Central Davidson looks to be the regional runner up.Taking the last spot I like Ledford to make it back to the state meet.
Interesting fact that I find interesting: Both the Men’s and Women’s team for East Lincoln return their entire Top 7 from the state meet.
For the ladies East Lincoln is looking to repeat, and the popular belief is that they will do it.Just like the men they need to work on their depth if they want to make some noise outside the region.Coming in second is West Stanley, they can challenge for the top spot if they put it together at the right time.A team that was fifth at the region, Central Davidson, is one of the schools we see representing the region.Were going to pencil them in for fourth.In third it will be Salisbury (no steak), who do return their 1 and 2 from last year.
Unusual idea, but I like it: The main running store in Albermarle is Vac and Dash.The owner of the store Peter Asciutto has been able to get a solid running community out in StanleyCounty.His store sells vacuums and running shoes, not going to find that many in state but I like the idea.
2A Mideast
With the Men we like Orange to be the top team in the region.While Orange County North Carolina is not as glamorous as the one in California, it does produce a lot of top runners.Cardinal Gibbons has the top returning runner in the state meet in MarkSullivan; he will lead Gibbons.They were a young team last year, we will have to see how the summer worked out for them. I think Cedar Ridge is the second team in the region, followed by Gibbons.While Northside is the fourth team.
New arrival: Emily Wirzda moved to OrangeHigh School from Kentucky her PR is 19:46, which is what her new teammate, Mackinzie Robinson, ran at the state meet.
The top two teams in the state are competing in this region, Cardinal Gibbons and Durham School of the Arts.Each lost their number one runner from the state meet, but we feel that Gibbons is a little bit stronger than DSA that’s why they get the edge.Gibbons is a pretty strong school, over the course of the season we will have to see if they are the best women’s team in the state.
A team that is on the rise with their new runner, Orange should have a solid 1-2 punch.Now can they build off this and get runners who can be in the second pack.They can be competitive throughout the season if this can be done.Right behind them is Cedar Ridge who should fight with Orange for third place.The 2A Mideast could produce the top 4 teams in the state meet if everything plays out just right.
2A East
On the guys side First Flight is our top pick. Swansboro is tempting to take-they have their top 3 coming back.But right now we think they are number two.Behind them is East Duplin and coming in fourth is South Lenoir.
57%: There were 7 teams that competed in the Women’s East Regional.More than half the teams in the region went to the state meet.Let’s hope more teams compete in the region this year.
Croatan looks strong returning their entire first five from the state meet and should win the region with some ease.The number two school in the region-Swansboro.We like that they return five, but depth will come into play.The last two teams that we think will make it are Northside and First Flight.Each team doesn’t return that much from last year, but in a region like this you really don’t have to worry about that.