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Last night at Ivey Redmon Park, the best teams in the state came together for an electric early season showdown on the course, which will crown champions come state championship season later in the fall.
The gun for the championship girls race sounded first in what would be a wide open contest without NC MileSplit #1 ranked Cardinal Gibbons girls in the field.
The team battle race began to shape up through the one-mile split as we saw the Marvin Ridge girls hold a commanding lead on the rest of the field with 169 points and great depth in their top seven runners, which all featured in the top 60 athletes in the race. North Lincoln were in second place with 210 points, led by a great low stick in junior Olivia Ferraro at 7th place individually through the mile mark, and a strong 2-3 scoring punch with Green and Reffner in 24th and 32nd place, however, lacked the same depth in their 5th runner as Marvin Ridge and third place team at the mile Cuthbertson, who could be dangerous if they continued to move up.
At the two-mile split, the race had flipped upside down as the perennial powerhouse Cuthbertson girls would in fact move up and heavily in that, jumping into 1st with 164 points, as Josie Schihl led the Cavaliers in 11th place, followed by Ava Walters in 17th and Freshman Colby McCollum in 30th, all ahead of Marvin Ridges number one athlete. Marvin Ridge, however, still held great depth in their back third, with fourth and fifth placed runners all packed together in 53rd, 54th, and 55th place to keep themselves in second with 205 points. North Lincoln stayed close in third, remaining at 215 points through the two-mile mark.
In the final mile, Cuthbertson's lead would continue to grow and prove to be enough to take home the team title with 142 points! The battle for second, on the other hand, was an incredibly tight one, as just four points separated the runner-up Marvin Ridge girls with 227 from North Lincoln with 231 points.
The boys toed the line next in what was a clear battle between the NC MileSplit #1 ranked defending 4A state champions, Marvin Ridge boys, and the NC MileSplit #2 ranked Hoggard boys, who after a disappointing 2023 4A State Championship 5th place finish are looking for more in their 2024 campaign.
Through the mile mark, things were as scripted, with Hoggard and Marvin Ridge battling up front. The Vikings got out hard to take an early lead with 119 points through the one-mile mark, led up front by Aedon Schroeder and Riley Kiziah in 14th and 15th place, respectively, and Gabriel Archibald in a strong 23rd position as well. Marvin Ridge held second with 144 points, led by Ishan Moore coming through in 21st, followed by a strong and quickly moving foward Marvin Ridge pack with Kyle Barney in 29th, Michael Rivlin in 30th, and David Rivlin in 32nd.
At the two-mile mark, Hoggard continued to lead with 127 points and, for the most part, held their positions very well. Due to a chip malfunction with Marvin Ridge scorer Michael Rivlin, we can't say exactly how much the Mavericks moved through the second mile; however, we know it was a strong one in that, as even without Rivlin in the scoring table, Marvin Ridge closed the gap between them and Hoggard to just seven points, in most part was due to David Firestones surge from 53rd place to 36th for the Mavericks.
In the final mile of the race, Marvin Ridge, in trademark style, closed harder than anyone else to take the team win with 86 points as the 5th man for the Maverick's Kyle Barney slammed the door shut on the Vikings, finishing in 24th place compared to Hoggard's fifth man Witt Reynolds placing 46th, closing out the win for Marvin Ridge as Hoggard were forced to settle with team runners up scoring 121 points.
Both team battles last night built increasing anticipation for the rest of the season, where we will see on the girls side if anyone can compete with the star Cardinal Gibbons defending 4A state champions, and on the boys side, where we'll find out if Marvin Ridge can make it back-to-back state championships or if Hoggard can capture their first boys state championship in school history. Stay tuned!