Tanglewood Invitational

Team and Individual Winners from 2008 Tanglewood Invitational

Boys Championship Individual Winner: Reidy Jones Broughton 16:05

Boys Team: Broughton

Girls Championship Individual Winner: Kimberly Spano North Mecklenburg 18:34

Girls Team: Cardinal Gibbons

Boys Invitational Individual Winner: Steven Bollinger Olympic 16:43

Boys Team: Charlotte Catholic

Girls Invitational Individual Winner: Kristen Stout Hendersonville 19:54

Girls Team: Marvin Ridge

Boys Open Individual Winner: Scott Morgan Calvary Baptist 17:20

Boys Team: North Carolina School of Science and Math

Girls Open Individual Winner: Kristina Witcher Carrboro 20:13

Girls Team: Carrboro

Boys JV Individual Winner: Liam Stott Chapel Hill 17:38

Boys Team: Broughton

Girls JV Individual Winner: Kelly Maw Cardinal Gibbons 21:19

Girls Team: Cardinal Gibbons

The new Tanglewood course was unveiled yesterday, and judging by the comments of those who ran it yesterday it’s either: faster, slower, or about the same as the old course.  The big noticeable difference was at the start where the runners didn’t have to run that far down the gully.  Also laid down was some sand somewhere around the start of the second loop, which some runners told me it slowed them down a bit.  Outside of that some teams raced it and some teams ran it as a workout.

Girls Championship

Kimberly Spano won another race and again by a wide margin.  This time she ran an 18:34, winning by nearly thirty seconds.  Cardinal Gibbons took the team win by fifteen points over Broughton.  The team that Broughton ran out there is young and they raced well.  But the big development was 1A Robbinsville placing sixth in the meet, averaging 21:30 on a tough course.  It looks as if it will be a close race in 1A.

Two teams from 3A were in this race and this time Asheville was able to beat Reagan at Tanglewood.  Reagan’s top three girls all finished close to each other, while Asheville has to work on its depth especially the number 5 runner.

Boys Championship

Some teams treated this race as a tempo and some did not.  Broughton served notice that they are a top team in 4A.  Four runners in the top 10 will do that.  Also winning by nearly a hundred points will do that as well.  The top 5 averaged 16:36, that’s impressive at Tanglewood.  They appear to be very sharp and the 4A Mideast Regional looks to be a showdown of three teams that could be capable of winning the state meet.

Following Broughton were three teams separated by three points.  Pinecrest was second, followed by Ardrey Kell, and Hoggard.  For Ardrey Kell the times that they hit early in the season have not been duplicated, but they do have two more meets at McAlpine to improve their confidence.  Pinecrest had a nice solid 5 running, the top 5 separated by only twenty three seconds.  And Hoggard just needs their fifth runner to step up.

Girls Invitational

Danielle Hobbs and Lucy Love were battling it out in this race, but Hendersonville’s Kristen Stout ended up winning the race over Hobbs and Love.  Marvin Ridge was able to claim the team win over Sun Valley.  Marvin Ridge is a team that has puts it’s name out there to contend, it has an established number 1, and it has a nice pack of runners after that.  Hendersonville also beat Bishop McGuinness in this race as well by just five points, although it appears Bishop was missing a top 5 runner. 

Boys Invitational

Two teams that are close in the 3A poll went out and raced.  Marvin Ridge had three in the top 10, lead by Chris Colo who finished third with a 17:04, Michael Colven 5^th with a 17:11, and David McCuiston 7^th 17:22.  It looked like Marvin Ridge was poised to win the race, but their fourth and fifth runner were a ways back, and Charlotte Catholic with it’s pack was able to win by seven points.  For the fourth straight race Catholic has had a different runner lead the team, this time it was Harry Hartenstine.  If Catholic’s pack runs faster in the upcoming week’s things could get interesting.  Mooresville ran the race as a workout, and it looked like they ran the last mile hard as they placed all seven runners in a row. 

A sleeper team in the very competitive 3A West: East Rowan.  They had three up in the top 15.  Assuming Mooresville, Asheville, and TC Roberson are locks for states, there appears to be five teams fighting for the last spot in that region.

Girls Open

Carrboro had the top two individuals in this race and used this to win the Girls Open.  Topsail, the defending 1A champion, was able to be the top 1A school in this race beating Hayesville and NCSSM.  Forsyth Country Day was second in the team race and has their state meet in less than two weeks.

Boys Open

A very close team race that saw the tiebreaker come into play.  North Carolina School of Science and Math edged Forsyth Country Day on the strength of it’s six runner.  NCSSM have developed a nice pack for this race and were able to edge FCD, who had two in the top 10.  Hayesville looked good as a 1A school in this race and were only three points from third place.