The defending NCHSAA 4A Mideast Regional Champion Chapel Hill Tigers come in at No. 6 on the boys' cross country pre-season countdown. 

Graduation will hurt this squad in 2022 as they lose Dylan Look, Jakob Maiwald, and Ryan Ziaee. But Yichen Sun is heading into his senior season ready to take this team to the next level. 

Sun was 5th at the cross country regional last year before going on to place 24th at the NCHSAA 4A state meet. 

As a team, the Tigers finished 5th at the state meet.

Behind Sun, Declan Harden is emerging into the next great 800m star in the state, but will that translate to the course in the fall? He ran 1:56.11 and was runner-up at the NCHSAA 4A Mideast Regional. He went on to run 1:57.50 and place 9th at the state meet a week later. 

As a team on the track, their returners rank NC No. 6 based on 3,200m times scored as a cross country meet.

Rising senior Cogan McMichaels went 10:17 over 3,200m this spring and rising junior Jack Berreth ran 10:22.

Chapel Hill's projected 5-7 in Ryan Kilgallen, Dylan Whitmire and Mitchell Abernathy might be chipping at the heels of the Tiger top four. The trio all went sub 10:45 in the 3,200m on the track and Abernathy topped them with a 10:25.80 personal best. 

Look out for Simon Vizithum to sneak into the top seven for the Tigers. He ran 10:39 over 3,200m in the spring and is likely going to smash his cross country 5,000m best of 18:28. He ran 17:41 in the 5,000m on the track this spring at the CHHS Tune-Up.

This is a very well coached team under Coach Joan Nesbit Mabe, that always seems to find themselves during the state meet. They have incredible depth, and that will bode well for them as the competition heats up late in the season. As the Tigers continue to hunt for another state title, will it come in 2022?