We are down to the top two! Coming in at No. 2 on the boys' individual pre-season countdown is Porter Ridge senior Jacob Laney. 

Laney is as talented as they come. He is coming off a state title in the 3,200m at the NCHSAA 4A state meet. His personal best in the 3,200m came at Arcadia where he ran 8:58.12. During that race, Laney took a small spill and managed to recover and still break 9:00! His time is junior class NC No. 3 all-time and he is now one of only three juniors to break 9:00.

He was runner-up in the 1,600m at the state meet, where he ran 4:09.62. His time was just off his personal best of 4:07.26. That time is junior class NC No. 3 all-time.

Laney also showed off his speed, running 1:56.29 to finish runner-up in the 800m at the SCC Conference Championship.

During the indoor season Laney was near-untouchable. He won the 1,600m and 3,200m indoor state titles while running a NC No. 2 all-time indoors in the 3,200m (8:57.02c).

Last fall, Laney was runner-up to now graduated Will Soule at the NCHSAA 4A cross country state meet. Laney was also the only one in the top six to not graduate this past spring. Laney took 8th at Great American XC Festival where he ran his personal best time of 15:23.30.

Soule was also an in-region rival for Laney, so he is chasing the open thrown atop the NCHSAA 4A Midwest Regional as well.

Laney was top two in every race on North Carolina turf this spring as well, showing when he is in the race, he is in it to win it.

As a sophomore, he placed 4th in the 3,200m and 6th in the 1,600m at the outdoor track state meet to go along with a 14th place finish at the 2020-2021 COVID NCHSAA 4A cross country state meet. 

It is Laney's turn to be the face of distance running in the state of North Carolina. He has plenty of track accolades, but he is searching for that cross country state title.

The earliest season we have on file for Laney was as a 7th grader running for Porter Ridge Middle School. He was 16th in the NC Middle School XC Championships where he ran 11:03.72 for 3,000m. Needless to say Laney has come a long way since those first races.