The Wendy's Invitational at McAlpine Park in Charlotte was a PR-fest. With great competition and beautiful weather, runners were looking very pleased. With teams from 6 states in attendance and many of the top teams in each classification from North Carolina, it made for some great races.
Kimberly Spano of North Meck and Taylor Gilland of Chapel Hill ran the fastest times of the day at the Wendy's Invitational. Both athletes won the 4A NCHSAA title last year and look primed to do it once again.
Photo Galleries: Invite Boys | Invite Girls | Open Boys | Open Girls | 3A Boys & Girls
Individual winners and full results:
Open Girls: Kimberly Spano, North Meck in 17:48
Open Boys: Steven Bollinger, Olympic in 15:39
Invitational Girls: Carolyn Baskir, East Chapel Hill in 18:02
Invitational Boys: Taylor Gilland, Chapel Hill in 15:23
3A Girls: Sarah Willingham, North Henderson in 18:53
3A Boys: Joseph Newman, Mooresville in 15:56
Taylor Gilland of Chapel Hill ran away from the field in the Invitational Boys Race, hitting 15:23. Kimberly Spano of North Meck also blistered the field in the Open Girls Race. Kimberly ran a 17:48 and became the first NC girl under 18:00 this season.
So before you start reviewing the results and jumping to conclusions on who beat who. Remember that many teams were missing athletes due to SAT's, not to mention injuries and illnesses. I'm going to try and help you out a bit. Here are some teams that need to be noticed after Wendy's.
4A Boys
Chapel Hill
NW Guilford
Mt. Tabor
Cary (very strong front 2, need 3-5 to move up)
4A Girls
NW Guilford
Myers Park
Chapel Hill
3A Boys
Mooresville
TC Roberson
Lake Norman
East Rowan
3A Girls
Lake Norman
Mooresville
Hickory
2A Boys
West Stanly
Carrboro
2A Girls
Carrboro
North Henderson
Owen
West Stanly
Joseph Newman of Mooresville won the 3A Boys race with a very impressive final mile, running a new personal best of 15:56. Northwest Guilford's Chelsea Hollingsworth finished 2nd in the Open Girls race. She led NW Guilford to a first place finish with her 18:33.
Wendy's Recap (Brian McMahon)
17:48! That was the top female time out of all the races today. It happened in the first race, and
Over the summer I had this crazy notion that there was individual who I was going to pick to win the 3A individual championship. I was just basing it on what I had seen him run, and the fact that this was going to be an impulse pick. But as the summer months passed I was slowly talking myself out of him being the guy for 3A. That was until the Open Boys race yesterday. Man I should have stuck with my original pick. Steven Bollinger went out and made the race his own. He took the lead around the final turn on the lake, and won this race with a 15:39. When you factor in his previous PR was a 16:36, he did something that left me and others shocked. Mohamed Abushouk of Cary and a few others took it out hard, hitting the mile around 4:55. Bollinger was a couple seconds behind them in sixth or seventh place. At the two mile Bollinger was in fourth, and coming onto the soccer fields it was a duel between the runner from Olympic and Cary.
Oh the final 600 M! The weather was just right, somewhat cool, little humidity. The two young men battled it out from the back mile to right around the 3 mile mark. That’s where Bollinger kicked it (I’ve seen him race for 3+ years and he now has a kick) and he took the win. He wanted to run negative splits in the race, starting out with a 5:20 first mile and then to see what will happen after that. But he improvised after the first mile and hung tough. It should be noted that Steven ran the second fastest time of the day.
One of the reasons I felt that Steven Bollinger could be contender to win the 3A meet was the size of his heart. Simply put he will not back down in a race. If you look at his cross times from last year they aren’t shattering. But what got me was the improvement in track. He’s matured as a racer and has to be a top contender for the 3A crown.
Team wise
The team that won this race returned to the scene. Before the season they were considered the favorites to win the 4A title. After WNC-CC it seemed the perception that they were a team to win states might be a little inflated. Since then they haven’t run an invitational that we know of. But they made up for it winning the Invitational Girls Race.
T.C. Roberson also provided an example that they might still be the best in 3A. Having two girls under 19 almost allowed them to win the race. If they can establish a fifth runner, then they may not have to worry about close scores.
One team came in being touted as the best in the 3A. Another team was flying under the radar (to those who didn’t know). Let’s call this race Round 1.
Another stand out performance belongs to a second year 2A school, Carrboro, who finished fourth. They had two in the top 10, and they did this all with 5 runners in the race. Look for them to stir things up in 2A.
It looked like
Not wanting to jinx them, but after the 3A race it seems a sure bet that Mooresville will win the state title on November 1st. Their top 5 averaged 16:30 for the race and they won this race easily (winning by 58 points). Although a lot can happen between now and then, it’s going to take a very special effort by another team to top them.