With two big weekend Invitationals highlighting the beginning of the XC season, we should get our first taste of who's been training. Both meets will feature some of the state's best.
WNC Cross Country Carnival
TC Roberson is all set to host many of the states finest teams, as well as a few from out of the state at this year's WNC CC Carnival. The meet is held at Jackson Park in Hendersonville, NC and is the favorite course of many high school athletes. Here are some helpful links straight from the Roberson site, robersoncc.com.
Box Assignments | Top Returning Boys | Top Returning Girls
In the girls championship race, it looks like the top 4 look to be TC Roberson, Charlotte Latin, Chapel Hill, Watauga (in no particular order). There look to be a number of teams who could battle for the 5th spot, and don't count out another team to play sleeper and pop into the top 4 mix.
On paper, TC Robeson looks very good this year. Rumor has it that one of their top returning girls has been sidelined some this summer, so we may not see them at full power, but they should still come out on top.
The individual race looks to be a great one as 5 girls have run under 19:00 in the past and another 6 under 19:30.
In the boy's race, Chapel Hill looks to be the top team and I look for them to get off to a great start proving they are the team to beat in the 3A classification. It looks to me like the boy's race is a bit more open for the top 5 teams. There are many solid XC programs in the race that will be looking to continue making a name for themselves. Look for TC Roberson, Asheville, Science Hill(TN), Charlotte Catholic, & Spring Valley(SC) to be in the mix. Don't count out a few other schools like Cary Academy, Owen, and Middle Creek either. I might as well just keep naming all the teams, huh?
The individual race could be a great battle between some of NC's top athletes as well as the #4 returning athlete in Tennessee. Thomas Graham of Cary Academy was the region's top frosh last year with a PR of 15:37 and began his season well at this meet last year. Look for him to the one to beat on Saturday.
Providence Invitational
The Providence Invite is in it's 4th year and is quickly becoming a large meet. Once again, many teams will travel to the quick McAlpine in order to get a solid fast time under the belts early in the season. Looking at the list of entered teams, I'm not sure if both boys and girls are coming from each school or not. I can tell you that there will be some solid early season performances.
1. Ridgeview SC
2. Mauldin SC
3. Hilton Head SC
4. Northwestern SC
5. Davie Co
6. Hopewell
7. Southview
8. Bishop McGuiness
9. Broughton
10. West Iredell
11. North Davidson
12. AL Brown
13. Marvin Ridge
14. Lake Norman Charter
15. West Forsyth
16. East Rowan
17. South Meck
18. Robinson
19. Weddington
20. Mallard Creek
21. North Meck
22. Butler
23. South Rowan
24. Providence
25. Greystone Day
26. Glenn
27. Lake Norman
28. North Iredell
29. Parkland
30. Ardrey Kell
31. Piedmont
32. Cary
33. Hickory Ridge
On the boy's side, look for an early showdown between Ardrey Kell and Broughton, 2 top 4A teams. Ardrey Kell is the top team on paper in NC and Broughton has tradition on their side. However, both teams will have to run very well as South Carolina's top returning team is also in the race, Hilton Head.
The individual race will be highlighted by Mohamed Abushouk of Cary as he blasted a 15:10 on the track. He lost last week at the Kickoff Classic but many say he was just cruising. We'll find out exactly what kind of shape he's in after this weekend.
The girl's race features a number of solid teams. Lake Norman is moving up to 4A and has the potential to be a dangerous team. How will they perform early? The Providence girl's team has an army out once again and seems to always reload with talent. The Weddington team is the top 3A team on paper and will be out to prove something as Chapel Hill is running at WNC. Finally, from SC you have Hilton Head, the top returning team in the state and Mauldin who is #3 coming back.
Look for the girls to run around 19:00 for the win, and it could very well be Hilton Head's Sara Manesiotis.