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Christ School boys showcased how good there were at the end of August with their dominant win at Eye Opener where they score 68 points with a 15:55 team average over a 50 team field.
They'd compete at Hare & Hounds in their first real test since and get a preview of this years NCISAA State Championship course. They'd also square off with their biggest NCISAA 4A competition in Cary Academy.
The Greenies have a solid top 7 who all can hang in the front of a deep field like Hare & Hounds. Brooks Barbee would lead the way for them running a new personal best of 15:17 to finish 3rd overall. Dallas Reeves and Reynolds Young would not be far behind taking 6th and 8th overall in 15:30 and 15:36. Young was their top guy at Eye Opener, but Barbee and Young took a big step forward with 31 and 27 second PRs respectively. Barbee ran 4:13 and 9:11 on the track and Reeves a 4:15 1600m as both seemed due to a breakout on the cross country course that came today.
Lone senior Noah Clancy took 11th overall with a 15:47 with Brody Webb as their fifth man taking 17th in 15:53. Just behind were Jack Dennehy and Timmy McDowell who ran 15:58 and 15:59 for 19th and 22nd to put 7 Christ School boys under 16 minutes.
Cary Academy had a strong performance with an impressive 98 points and 15:49 1-5 team average. Kavi Gibson would lead the way for the individual win in 14:50. This is the 7th fastest mark by a NC boy ever at McAlpine, but all but Hansen's 14:40 came on a shorter course layout that was run prior to 2015.
Joey Grabek and Cole Harris would have strong days running 15:50 and 15:58 to place 14th and 20th overall as both broke 16:00 for the first time. Finn Miller and Colton White wouldn't be far behind running 16:07 for 31st and 16:21 for 45th overall respectively. They'd run an impressive 15:49 team average.
Below can compare Christ School's Top 7 at Hare & Hounds vs. Eye Opener a few weeks ago.
| Name | Hare & Hounds | Eye Opener |
| 15:17.9 | 15:45.90 | |
| 15:30.9 | 16:01.6 | |
| 15:36.0 | 15:40.6 | |
| 15:47.4 | 16:12.4 | |
| 15:53.6 | 16:04.3 | |
| 15:58.0 | 16:04.0 | |
| 15:59.3 | 16:25.40 |
Christ School proved themselves as one of the top teams in the Southeast Region as they have sights set on qualifying for NXN out of the Southeast Regional. Their 1-5 average today was 15:37 and gap from their 1st through 7th runner was just 41 seconds!
They'll test themselves against some of their competition at a faster WakeMed course at Great American in the first week of October followed by the VA XC Showcase in Virginia a few weeks after before the postseason gets underway.