Hoggard boys impressed in their first real test of the season at Friday Night Lights where the Vikings scored 76 points with a 16:06 team average and a 36 second team average from 1-5.
Hoggard boys has been a deep team the last two cross country seasons placing 5th in 4A in 2023 and 3rd in 2024 despite dealing with a significant amount of injuries over the season. They returned the second team behind Broughton into the 2025 season behind Broughton, but added in Jasper Smith who moved from Kentucky and ran 15:20 at NXR Southeast a year ago. Ralph Pfeil also moved to Hoggard in the spring last year after placing 6th for Lejeune in 1A as a freshman clocking a 17:01.
| 2 | Hoggard (NC) | 195 | |||
| 1) Gabriel Archibald | 15:44.10 | 26 | |||
| 2) Riley Kiziah | 15:46.60 | 31 | |||
| 3) Aedon Schroeder | 15:50.20 | 36 | |||
| 4) Gabe Nalepa | 16:00.70 | 46 | |||
| 5) Joel Aiken | 16:07.80 | 56 | |||
Average Time: 15:53.88 Total Time: 1:19:29.40 1-5 Split: 23.70 | |||||
| 6) Witt Reynolds | 16:16.00 | 77 | |||
| 7) Adyn Cockrum | 16:49.70 | 188 | |||
Riley Kiziah was their 2nd returner, but emerged on the track with a strong sophomore campaign running a 4:09.74 1600m to cap off the season at Running Lane and placed 6th in the NCHSAA 4A 3200m as was expected to be their top runner this fall.
From the gun Hoggard started out strong on Friday night placing their top 5 boys ahead of every other programs third runner through the mile. Kiziah set the pace through in 4:49 in 6th place, followed by Aedon Schroeder and Gabe Archibald at 4:53 in 11th and 12th with Smith and Pfeil in at 4:58 and 5:00 in 17th and 26th respectively. They scored 72 points as a team well ahead of Holly Springs who sat in 2nd with 161 points, but there was a lot of race to play out.
Over the second Mile Hoggard would improve on their positioning with Kiziah continuing to set the pace crossing in 9:55 in 4th overall. Smith had moved up off a conservative opening pace to 8th in 10:08.1 with Archibald and Schroeder a few seconds behind in 14th and 16th. Pfeil held his positioning at 26th in 10:24 remaining ahead of everyones 3rd runner in the field.
Holly Springs maintained their 2nd place position at 183 points with a 10:24 average compared to Hoggard's 10:10. Cuthbertson and Cary Academy were moving up with 220 and 229 points and a 10:31 and 10:28 average through 5 runners respectively.
Hoggard would cruise on maintaining a large lead over the field as their top 5 only moved up or down a handful of positions as they headed towards the finish. Kiziah would lead the way with a 9th place finish running 15:50 and behind the 6th team scoring athlete through the finish chute.
Smith would come in as the Vikings second runner in 16:01 in 14th overall with Schroeder just behind in 16:03 in 16th. Archibald took 21st at 16:08 and Pfeil 41th in 16:26 as their 5th.
This would give them 76 team points and a 16:06 1-5 average and just a 36 second spread from Kiziah to Pfeil.
Holly Springs had a strong performance led by Cruz Ledford in 6th overall at 15:39 and Brandon Williams in 11th overall at 15:58. They'd score 173 points with a 16:25 average to finish 2nd ahead of Cary Academy who'd move up over the last mile, but come up 26 points behind with 197. Cuthbertson would finish in 4th at 218 while Apex Friendship would storm up the leaderboard over the last mile going from 9th with 328 points to 5th with 256 points.
Even with a strong day from Hoggard, they were without Joel Aiken who was their 5th man in their season opener finishing 14 seconds ahead of Pfeil.
We had ranked Hoggard third behind Christ School and Broughton coming into the season. Christ School won last weekend at Eye Opener with a team average of 15:55. We haven't seen Broughton debut yet, but the Vikings have proved it's a three team battle for the top spot in North Carolina and that the NCHSAA 8A battle with Broughton is going to be a thrilled come November 1st.
Impressing in the team scores was Oak Grove who was the only 6A or smaller school to finish within the top 10 outside of Cary Academy who is NCISAA 4A, the largest division. Oak Grove finished 8th overall with a 16:47 team average with 291 points.
Championship Boys 5000 Meter Run Finals Team Scores
| Place | Team | Points | Scorers | Times |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hoggard (8A) | 76 | 6+10+12+17+31 (100+105) | 0:36 1-5 Split | 16:06 Avg |
| 2 |  Holly Springs (7A) | 173 | 4+8+44+51+66 (98) | 1:19 1-5 Split | 16:25 Avg |
| 3 |  Cary Academy (NCISAA 4A) | 197 | 1+21+39+53+83 (113+165) | 1:55 1-5 Split | 16:25 Avg |
| 4 |  Cuthbertson High School (7A) | 218 | 16+36+42+50+74 (86) | 0:58 1-5 Split | 16:37 Avg |
| 5 |  Apex Friendship (8A) | 256 | 5+40+52+56+103 (119+121) | 1:32 1-5 Split | 16:41 Avg |
| 6 |  Panther Creek (8A) | 261 | 13+28+69+72+79 (108+136) | 1:05 1-5 Split | 16:43 Avg |
| 7 |  Green Hope (8A) | 265 | 9+30+68+73+85 (114+135) | 1:10 1-5 Split | 16:44 Avg |
| 8 |  Oak Grove High School (5A) | 291 | 19+24+60+65+123 (196+212) | 1:22 1-5 Split | 16:47 Avg |
| 9 |  Marvin Ridge (7A) | 301 | 7+38+80+81+95 (117+142) | 1:24 1-5 Split | 16:47 Avg |
| 10 |  Reagan (7A) | 332 | 15+41+61+87+128 (134+145) | 1:30 1-5 Split | 16:54 Avg |