Week 2 In Review

Ben Huffman led his Providence Day squad to one of the most impressive team performances of a great weekend.

 

What Did We Learn This Week (in no particular order, and certainly not covering every detail of a big weekend):

  • Broughton's boys are the best in the state at this point; deep, talented.
  • Christian White, 1:54 800 runner from Ardrey Kell, is now at Charlotte Latin.  Big change in both 4A and NCISAA 3A state meets this spring!
  • When you insert Rachel Bartolomeo and Samiiah Wilson (both in uniform but not racing Saturday), Cardinal Gibbons girls are very close to Green Hope.
  • Providence girls are better than advertised, and will make some noise for the next two years.
  • Mount Tabor's girls look a lot more like a top-10 4A team this weekend; excellent rebound, and still room to improve.
  • Broughton's girls appear to have a depth problem, even when Mattie Blue is racing again.
  • Mary Grace Doggett and Kayla Montgomery both opened the season with all-time PR's.
  • Megan Sullivan is going to be a monster this year.
  • Bakri Abushouk is in fantastic shape, and will make a serious run at being NC's top dog if he stays healthy.
  • Cary's boys might be the #2 team in the state at this point.
  • Freshmen Jeremy Brown of Broughton and Sophie Ebihara of Cardinal Gibbons are both the real deal.
  • This week, it's the Weddington boys that don't look as good as they have been ranked, though they still look strong; again it's early.
  • Jackson Park was a little wet and a little longer than last year, while McAlpine was perfect; take comparisons with a grain of salt.  The top 100 at WNC this year were slower than the top 100 last year.
  • Nikolaus Kreiling (Jordan) is early leader for most improved, with Tima Karginov (Chapel Hill) and Dalton Nickel (Mount Tabor) also on the ballot.
  • Providence Day is the clear favorite for NCISAA 3A boys title right now, and could hang with almost anyone in NCHSAA.
  • Darby Middlebrook is in fantastic shape; for context, she ran only 6 seconds behind former Spring Valley and Stanford runner Kate Niehaus, and Kate had another runner with her the whole way.
  • With Lily Anderson on board, the TC Roberson girls will be contenders for a spot in the all-classes top 5 by the end of the year.
  • AC Reynolds has a really good young girls' team; if Larissa Wood gets back to her top form, they have a chance to be outstanding next year.
  • Watauga's girls showed their depth, running well without Doria Kosmala this weekend.
  • I get the sense we haven't seen the best of Watauga's boys yet this year; could be training through their races right now.  They need a 5th man to step up.

 

 

Providence Invitational

On-Site Coverage

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights

WNC Cross Country Carnival

On-Site Coverage

Two meets highlight instate action, some in N.C.

The 15-mile relay at Eastside and Run Wild Festival hosted by Richland Northeast highlight instate action this weekend. Several teams are traveling to North Carolina for the Providence Invitational and Western North Carolina Carnival.

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights