Virtual Meet
The boys Hare & Hounds field up front should be an exciting one between Coen Roberts (Greer, SC) and Ben Armentrout (Atkins). Roberts won the event last year and was also 11th on this course at Foot Locker South. Armentrout finally had the breakthrough he's been looking for at Friday Night Lights breaking the meet record clocking 15:42.
Roberts is coming off a massive first race of the season at Eye Opener where he broke North Carolina legend Ryan Hill (Hickory '08) and current Nike Bowerman Track Club pro's meet record. Roberts won the event by a wide margin clocking 15:19. He won at Hare & Hounds last year in 15:22 then ran 15:17 at Foot Locker South later in the season.
Armentrout ran 16:00 early last season, but wasn't able to break the 16 minute barrier his junior year. He shattered it in the first big race of his senior year proving he's one of the states best. He'll look to prove he's capable of even more against one of the South's best runners in Coen Roberts.
Both Roberts and Armentrout could be on the Foot Locker South team at seasons end. 15:14 was 10th last year at the meet, so that's the range they'll look to be in by seasons end.
Andrew Hammel (Christ School) was second to Roberts at Eye Opener the last two years and should be one of the front runners this weekend. He's run 15:51 and 16:18 to kickoff his senior season. Miles Mullins (Saint Christopher's, VA), Kenny Eheman (Cary Academy), Luke Scacheri (Ashley) and Micah Gilpatrick (Greer, SC) also come into the meet with sub-16 credentials.
The team battle will be close all around with a lot of squads capable of taking home the win. Mooresville come in ranked best in our virtual meet with a 16:43 1-5 split and a gap of 36 seconds. This will be the first big test for them this season, but they've been a team that improves a lot over the course of the season. They are the top returning team in the 4A West Region coming into the season.
Cuthbertson has had a strong start to the year led by Mickey Schihl who holds a seasons best of 16:19 with two strong performances at WNC and FNL this year. Cuthbertson is strong through 4, but need a big day from a fifth man to win this weekend. Greer (SC) come in with the best 1-2 punch in Roberts and Gilpatrick with a wide gap from their 2nd to 5th man. Saint Christopher's and Marvin Ridge should also be in contention for a top finish as a team tomorrow.
Weather conditions look great for tomorrow as we should see some fast times go down at McAlpine. Brent Demarest (Porter Gaud, SC '14) holds the meet record of 15:09 from 2013. Roberts winning time of 15:22 from a year ago sits at 3rd best in meet history.
