1A Midwest Girls
Individual Battle
Don't be fooled if Abigail Hemric takes Saturday's race out slow. Hemric always runs a strong second half, and should be totally unchallenged for the win in this race. She has established herself as one of the best in 1A and beyond, and has had success on this course before. Next in is her North Stokes teammate Rachel Overby, who also has the speed to lock up the runner-up spot. These two form an impressive duo that seems to have a stranglehold on the top spots.
Behind them is a pack of 11 runners within 45 seconds of each other this season. Courtney Brown (East Surry) and Delanie Glover (Community School of Davidson) lead the pack, with Nicole Aswell (Pine Lake Preparatory) not far behind. The rest of the top 5 spots behind the North Stokes girls are up for grabs to these girls and the rest of the massive pack that will be charging behind them.
Team Battle
Community School of Davidson has five in the top 15, and with a 56-second 1-5 split they could take advantage of the tight packing in the back of the race if they can move up ahead of the masses. They've got the best shot at taking the win on Saturday.
Pine Lake Prep has five in the top 25, and like CSD, they have a solid 6-7 that could displace most other teams' fourth and fifth runners. Bishop McGuinness and Union Academy should find themselves in the top four, which would leave North Stokes on the outside looking in. Despite the big guns up front, they don't have a large team and would need to get a big improvement from their 4-5 to have a chance at nabbing a top-four spot as a team.