It was a huge weekend of racing in North Carolina with meets all over the state. There were many stellar performances by NC athletes.
5 Stage 8-Mile Relay
While the majority of teams in the Triad area were competing at Wolfpack. Cary HS decided to head to Greensboro for the 5 stage relay, just as they did last year. Not wanting their performance to go unnoticed, here you go. Cary won the relay with a time of 50:24. It isn't close to Cardinal Gibbons' course record, but it is promising for Cary. Last year at this event, Cary ran a time of 50:34. So with a time 10-seconds better than last year, this team could be one to watch. Cary went on to finish 4th at the 2007 4A state championships . . . so watch out, Cary is still a team to look out for.
Adidas Wolfpack Invitational
GIRLS
With so many teams expected to be in the hunt for their state title, this was an exciting day. The big story was, "Who is this girl running with Adrianne Soo (Durham Academy) and Madeline Morgan (Mountain Brook, AL)?" According to Milesplit.US, Morgan is the #3 ranked runner in the South while Soo is ranked 12th. Well, Carolyn Baskir of East Chapel Hill came to race, and racing she did. Carolyn sat behind the 2 ranked runners for the first mile and as they headed up the hill. The next ime I saw the front, it was Morgan leading with Baskir attached to her hip. Soo was about 10 seconds back at this point, so it looked to be a 2-girl race. When Morgan began to have heat issues (as it looked like), Baskir took over the race and sprinted to the finish in a fantastic early season time of 18:26. So, who is she? NCRunners' is hoping to find out more, but here is what we know.
Baskir ran for East Chapel Hill in 2006 when she was a freshman. Then, last year, it looks as if she took the year off and didn't run. In 2006, she only has one time showing up in the NCRunners.com database. She ran 20:36 at the Wendy's Invitational. Could that have been her previous best? Wow!
The East Chapel Hill girls, who hadn't run an invitational yet, proved they are among the top teams in 4A. ECH finished 2nd overall, behind Mountain Brook, AL (ranked 4th in the US). It was very tight between ECH and Green Hope HS. Green Hope's girls, led by Jessica Rossabi in 12th place, finished just 3 points behind ECH. Look for this battle to continue the rest of the season.
Also in the Championship Girls race, Cardinal Gibbons continued their dominance of 2A. They finished 4th overall, just 10 points behind East Chapel Hill and 7 behind Green Hope. Cardinal Gibbons was led by Sarah Rapp with her 7th place finish, followed by Halsey Merritt who placed 16th. Cardinal GIbbons' is the obvious favorite to win yet another 2A state title.
Charlotte Latin's girls finished 7th overall and was the first Independent school to finish. They were led by sophomore Haylee Dawe, who placed 6th overall just 1 second off her PR from last year, 19:17. Haylee and Charlotte Latin once again proved they are the team to beat among Independent schools.
In the Invitational Girls race, Asheville's Sophia Treakle won her 2nd big race in 2 weeks. Last weekend she won at the Eye Opener and this week at Wolfpack in 20:32. She's running well and will be among the top finishers at the 3A state meet.
Following her was Taylor Dunn of Caldwell Academy in 20:57. Taylor will be in the hunt later this season for the 1A/2A NCISAA state title. Currently her team, Caldwell Academy, is the top ranked 1A/2A school in the state. Last year, Bethany Spano of SouthLake Christian won the individual title, but look for Taylor to give Spano a run for her money at the state meet.
Carrboro's girls won the meet with a score of 88 points. Carrboro was led by two top 10 finishers. Kristina Withcer finished 6th overall, while her teammate Laura Hamon finished 8th. This is a team deserving to be ranked among the better 2A schools. This team will make a big jump into the 2A rankings that come out later this week.
Finishing 2nd was Forsyth Country Day, last year's NCISAA 3A runner-ups. FCDS was led by Hollis Lineberger with her 4th place finish. Also finishing in the top 10 for FCDS was Elizabeth Lang who finished 9th. They are currently ranked #3 in the NCISAA Coaches Poll.
BOYS
Everyone knew this race was going to be a battle between last year's 4A state champions, Broughton HS, and this year's #1 ranked 4A team, Green Hope. Green Hope and Broughton are currently both ranked in the SE Region, and both ranked very high. Green Hope is ranked #2 and Broughton is currently ranked #5. Both teams proved they are very good, and it's obviously going to be an excited year in 4A.
Green Hope pulled off the victory over Broughton and everyone else, but the margin was slim. Green Hope edged Broughton by 5 points and had an average time slightly faster, 1.4 seconds. Green Hope was led by Bryan Spreitzer who finished 3rd overall in 16:07. Burk Staub led Broughton, finishing 5th overall with a time of 16:09. Let's take a closer look.
Green Hope
1) Spreitzer, 16:07
2) Roshdy, 16:23
3) Black, 16:36
4) Baulch, 17:05
5) Hefner, 17:06
6) Hagan, 17:26
7) Walling, 17:29
Broughton
1) Staub, 16:09
2) R. Jones, 16:26
3) Malherbe, 16:43
4) Askin, 16:58
5) Lawrence, 17:08
6) Shirley, 17:16
7) D. Jones, 17:47
But don't count out Chapel Hill to get back in the mix for the 4A state title. Chapel Hill was led by Taylor Gilland who placed first overall in 15:39. Chapel Hill placed 3 runners in the top 10 which is amazing, but their 4th and 5th runners were well back, finishing 63rd and 65th. Here's what Chapel Hill looked like.
Chapel Hill
1) Gilland, 15:39
2) Bunch, 16:18
3) Villemain, 16:22
4) Colburn-Hertzberg, 17:30
5) Stapleton, 17:31
6) Hoerger, 17:33
7) W. Sutter, 18:06
Dakota Peachee of West Johnston ran a fantastic race, finishing 2nd overall, just 5 seconds off of Gilland. Dakota ran well last and finished 6th last year at the 4A state meet. However, Dakota is now running at a different level and is hoping to make a run at Gilland for the individual title later this season. Taylor made a move back in the woods around the 2-mile mark and gapped Dakota. The lead grew to around 10 seconds by the base of the hill, then Peachee closed it down as they both raced up.
Northwest Guilford also looked good as they finished 5th overall. They were led by Seth Crawford's 20th place finish. Behind him, NWG had a nice pack of runners. Numbers 2-5 were 17:15, 17:17, 17:24, & 17:29.
Nash Central who is ranked #2 in 3A behind Mooresville, ran a great race. Finishing 6th overall in the team competition, Mooresville better be on the lookout. Nash Central was led by Will Bass' 14th place and 16:28. Will's previous best 5k time was only 17:15, so I'd say he is ready. Last year's #1, Dillon Hawley, who has a track 5k PR of 15:38, was only 5th for Nash Central. Should he get into form, this is going to be a great team.
Hoggard also proved that their win at the Jungle Run was for real. They finished 7th overall and defeated some of the better 4A teams. They were led by Charles Wofford's 18th place.
Durham Academy proved their young team is the one to beat among NCISAA schools. Cary Academy got off to a great start at the WNC CC Carnival and looked like they may be up to the challenge, but as of right now, Durham Academy is #1. DA was led by Fred Ward who finished 16th overall in 16:31. His brother, Carl, finished 26th with a time of 16:46. Both brother's ran new PR's leading their team to an 8th place finish. However, Thomas Graham of Cary Academy was the top NCISAA runner, crossing the line 12th place with a time of 16:25.
In the Invitational Race, Jay Huyrsz of Eastern Alamance, won the race with a time of 16:54. He slipped by Leu Yak of Fuquay Varina near the top of the hill for a 3 second win.
Eastern Alamance, previously unranked in the 3A classification, won the team competition by 9 points over Millbrook HS. Eastern Alamance placed 3 runners in the top 16 to help them win the team title.
Millbrook was 2nd overall, led by Stephen Townsend with a time of 17:39. Townsend placed 6th overall. Daniel Buchenberger of Millbrook was 2nd for the team and 9th overall.
Forsyth Country Day should move way up in the NCISAA Coaches Poll as they looked solid with their 3rd place finish. Wesley Fitch led the way for the Furies with a time of 17:55. Behind him was a solid pack of runners. Their 2-5 ran times of 18:22, 18:27, 18:27, & 18:30.