Overall Database Returning Ranking - 20th
NCHSAA 4A Database Returning Ranking - 11th
NCHSAA 4A Mideast Database Returning Rankings - 6th
Key Losses
Key Returners
Holly Springs will return the majority of their squad that was just 4 points out of 5th place and a spot at the NCHSAA State Championships last fall. They'll be lead by individual state meet qualifier Caitlyn Morton who ran sub-20 4 times last year ending with a season-best of 19:44. Morton's overall PR comes from her freshman year where she 19:15. She had a solid year on the track running 11:59 for the 3200m and 5:32 for the 1600m. She has been to the state meet twice as an individual, but as a senior she's ready to return, but with a full team.
Rising junior Caleigh Nelson returns off a 19:59 season best from her sophomore year. Nelson was the teams #3 girl last season ending the year with a 28th place finish at the Mideast Regional and a 5th place finish at the SWAC Conference Championship. Nelson did miss the 2018 track season, but if she comes back healthy she'll be a force this fall.
Grayson Smith was the teams #4 girl last fall returning with a PR of 20:35. Smith has been on the varsity squad in her first two seasons with Holly Springs, however last year she had a drastic improvement dropping her time by over 90 seconds. She did struggle on the track compared to her freshman year PRs, but if she can return in top form in XC she'll certainly impact Holly Springs top 5. Hope Kroll was the teams #5 girl as a freshman with a PR of 20:37. In her freshman track season Kroll ran 6:02 for the 1600m. This team returns a top of depth and Kroll will have to fight to keep her spot in the top 5.
Rising sophomore Kennedy Mitchell is someone that could be a big help for this team. Mitchell didn't run XC last fall for the Golden Eagles, but had a stellar track season running 5:34 and 2:30. If Mitchell runs XC she could be one of the top girls on the program and would help bring them towards at spot at the state meet.
This team is going to have a lot of girls fighting for a spot in their top 7. They return a lot of girls who were under 6 minutes for the 1600m on the track in Gretchen Bingham, Ellie McIntyre, Sydney Howard, Jordan Smith, Natalia Hoggan and Randi Martinez. With these girls pushing for a spot in the top 7 it's going to be a great help for this team. They'll have about 12 girls at least, not including incoming freshman, who could possibly impact the squads top 7. They return as the #6 team in the Mideast this fall, but with just a few girls having breakout seasons they should be able to crack the top 5 this fall.