Coming in at No. 8 on our boys' pre-season cross country countdown are the Wildcats of Lake Norman.
Lake Norman was 3rd at the NCHSAA 4A Midwest Regional in 2021 before going on to finishing 4th at the NCHSAA 4A state meet.
They lose three of their top seven from last fall, but return rising senior Logan Dingman and rising sophomore Triston Rabon.
Dingman excelled on the track this past spring. He ran 4:19.41 for the full mile at Mount Tabor Mile and 4:18.15 in the 1,600m at the NCHSAA 4A Midwest Regional where he placed 3rd. He went on to finish 7th in the 1,600m at the state meet. He ranks NC No. 7 among 2022-23 returners. He also ran 1:57.14 over 800m which ranks him NC No. 19 among returners.
As a team, the Wildcats are NC No. 8 in the returning rankings. If they want to improve on their performance from last fall the No. 5 runner will have to step up. Mason Noble, Jaidan McClure, and Kyler Pralle all have cross country personal bests within 11 seconds of each other, so the friendly team battle for that No. 5 spot will only make them all stronger. McClure ran 10:22 over 3,200m this spring which makes him a breakout candidate.
| 8 | Lake Norman (NC) | 588 | ||
| 1) Logan Dingman | 16:06.95 | 28 | ||
| 2) Triston Rabon | 16:28.78 | 58 | ||
| 3) Brad Mankus | 16:32.68 | 63 | ||
| 4) Miller Brannen | 16:57.90 | 123 | ||
| 5) Mason Noble | 17:49.00 | 316 | ||
| Average Time: 16:47.06 Total Time: 1:23:55.31 1-5 Split: 1:42.05 | ||||
| 6) Jaidan McClure | 17:51.60 | 334 | ||
| 7) Kyler Pralle | 18:00.50 | 378 | ||