Great American XC Festival
Just a few hours northeast of Charlotte comes the Great American XC Festival at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC. The host site of Team Regional Southeast, this course has produced some of the fastest times in state history. Since its' inaugural 1999 race, thousands of athletes have toed the line at Great American ready to run fast.
Great American XC Festival
Just a few hours northeast of Charlotte comes the Great American XC Festival at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC. The host site of Team Regional Southeast, this course has produced some of the fastest times in state history. Since its' inaugural 1999 race, thousands of athletes have toed the line at Great American ready to run fast.
Boys' Race
On the boys' side Mount Tabor looks to build off their strong performance at adidas XC Challenge where they walked away with the championship. Will Soule made his season debut at adidas and clocked 15:36.
For Mount Tabor, Douglas Gledhill and Davis Potter are coming off of huge performances where they both ran 15:45. That 1-2-3 for Mount Tabor may be too much for any team to handle.
Hardin Valley, TN comes back to North Carolina after taking the win at Hare & Hounds. Their top runner Kaden Keller has a personal best of 15:58 from Hare & Hounds. The battle between Mount Tabor and Hardin Valley might be the closest of the weekend. Mount Tabor may be stronger up front but Hardin Valley holds a 17 second 1-5 split with their 5th running clocking 16:15.
Severna Park, MD is the top team in Maryland by a wide margin, as they have six of the top 20 overall runners in Marland.
The individuals in this race as loaded as well. Notre Dame commit Sam Rich (Catawba Ridge, SC) ran 14:38 this season, which is US No. 1.
Walter Williams High School's Ryan Motondo looks to challenge Rich at the front and solidify himself as a true star. South Carolina's Zander Jeffcoat could find himself in the lead pack as well.
Bolles School, FL is making the trip back to WakeMed after their girls had an impressive showing at adidas XC Challenge.
Farragut, TN has two runners, Trevor Coggin and Braden Ebbert, who have gone under 16:00 this season.
Bishop Hendricken, Rhode Island is the top team from the state and will look to use their own strong pack to shock some teams.
Girls' Race
The headliner of the event is Juliette Whittaker (Mount de Sales, MD), who ran in the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 800m and was a finalist for Foot Locker Nationals in 2019.
In the team battle it is Cuthbertson and Weddington leading the way for North Carolina.
Alyssa Preisano (Cuthbertson) and Stella Kermes (Cuthbertson) had fantastic races at adidas XC, but it was Weddington who dominated the team scores. They took down Marist, Bolles, and Cuthbertson.
Cambridge Christian, FL has a great dup up front that could make their mark on the team scores. Mary Ellen Eudaly has run 17:51 this season and Caroline Lehman has gone 18:04.
Northwood's Caroline Murrell has been spectacular to start this season. Her 17:55 mark is good for NC No. 1 this season, but she is ready to crush that and try and go into the mid-17:00 range.