It's about time for wendy's! It looks like a good field of competition. What are your predictions for teams and individuals?
Tough to say for this year. I think Mark Blackmon will surprise some people on Saturday. Many may have seen his race at the Coaches Classic and thought he was not as strong as last year. This, coupled with the fact that he wants some redemption for last year's Wendy's race makes for a strong performance.
Brandon will post a very good time as well but I dont think either of them will hang with the top 2 from NC, if they run in the same race. As far as teams go, I look for strong performances from Dorman (SC), Mooresville (NC), Broughton (NC), Wando (SC), Ardrey Kell (NC), and Chapel Hill (NC).
Definitely looking forward to this one.
Team wise I think it will be between Oakton (VA), Chapel Hill (NC), and Etowah (GA). If Wando could get in the top 7 that would be good for them after losing to the 24th ranked team in GA (Lassiter). There will be 5 teams better than Lassiter from GA alone. Besides Oakton, nothing from VA,TN, or KY. I'm surprised the best two teams from NC won't be there, Broughton and Green Hope.
Wando won't run its entire Top 7 at Wendy's.
I wasn't aware that Broughton would not be there. Thats a bit surprising. I also noticed the Wando loss to Lassiter and found it a bit odd as well. Is there a reason why they are not bringing their To 7 to Wendy's? I really can't think of a good strategical reason not to. Hmmm...
OnceARunnrWando won't run its entire Top 7 at Wendy's.
Why not? Injuries?
etowah is decent, but they aren't up there with teams like broughton imho. chapel hill should be really great. AK is under the radar too, so watch out for them. as for individuals... i'd have to go with my NC homeboy mark sullivan from cardinal gibbons to finish high (if he runs).
wando lost to lassiter by only one point in the citadel invitational. lassiter also ran last year in the lowcountry invitational. wando is running this saturday. several of the runners in the wando top seven are injured.
I know atleast one of wando's top 7 runners is SAT and I'm sure many team's college bound seniors may miss this meet, considering the November SAT is on the same day as state qualifier and time is running down to have the SAT score they want or need to send to his or hers college of choice.
Anybody think any of the Summerville runners can do any good?
It's interesting that Eastside is going. They only have one runner under 19:00. When I was there we were a dominant team (37 pts at AAAA state with our 4th runner [a 9:55 3200m guy] finishing 7th place one year and 48 pts the next year with our 3rd runner finishing 4th at state), we never had that chance.
Etowah might not be that good. Their #1 runner did run 16:00 there last year and has run second to a teammate this year but neither of them have been running good lately. Westminister has run 1st through fifth in as little as 35 seconds, they may compete. I would think the kid from Chapel Hill should win the individual race, but I didn't look through all the entries.
I'm interested in how good Summerville does. Coach Kilbreth has been around along time he is a great coach. I was running when he had the national dual meet record broken by Rock Hill, I don't remember what it was but it was in the hundreds.
MJohnson92It's interesting that Eastside is going. They only have one runner under 19:00. When I was there we were a dominant team (37 pts at AAAA state with our 4th runner [a 9:55 3200m guy] finishing 7th place one year and 48 pts the next year with our 3rd runner finishing 4th at state), we never had that chance.
Eastside has been going for umpteen years in a row, whether or not they have a good team. Right now their boy's team is young (only one senior and one junior among top ten runners) but their girls team is ranked, and has had eleven girls run under 23 minutes.
Told everyone to expect a surprise from Mark Blackmon. Looks like he's back at the front for State. Should be a very interesting pair of races on November 1 and November 8. Tip Reburn also looked strong in the second half of his race. This will be a great year for cross ocuntry in South Carolina.
Blackmon, Easler, and two Wando guy are going to be fighting for the title this year. This state meet is all going to come down to heart. Which Pre would be proud of.
I put the top 10 teams from SC in a virtual meet and found out that Spring Valley made such an improvement from last year. They came in 1st in my virtual meet with almost all the top teams in the state. They had 5 guys under 17 with guys inching in to break 16 mins. They are the team to watch. They are coming back with avengence. Then the runner ups were with in 3 points of each other:Dorman and Wando. I can't wait to see this meet in reality. It is going to be a different place and with almost a month to go. My question is, who will come prepared? We can only wait to find out.
Spring Valley's times were from a meet that was on a short course, that's why the poll here shows them ranked #1. They were missing their #3 at Wendy's.
Why on Earth would anyone be surprised with Blackman running 15:47? He ran the exact same time two years ago as a 7th grader.
As far as 4a teams go, Wando is #1. They were the best in SC at Wendy's and they did it without Will James who has run with or near Ethan Ruckel all year, and without Powers who will hopefully be back before the end of the year.
If there is a surprise team in 4a this year it is Ridge View. A young talented group.
i will love it when i run with all of you
I was not surprised to see Blackmon run that time. My point was that if anyone looked at his Wendy's race last year and Coaches Classic result this year they may have tended to believe that he was behind where he needed to be, or could be. In fact, prior to Wendy's I heard many people saying that they believed Brandon had left him behind and was the favorite for State this year.
This is going to be one exciting finish! We all know Brandon will be there, the Wando runners are coming on, and who knows about Jennings or maybe even a few other surprises!
I agree. There are always a handful of runners who come out of nowhere at state meet time. You never know what will happen when a runner who's only been competing in small meets gets a chance to run with the best at the state meet or peaks at the right time late in the season.
I believe Tip Reburn will finish 10th place in the Champions Division with a time of 16:16. That is my final and only prediction. I bet he will also wish that he ran in the Invitational.
Reburn,
Turns out your prediction was right on target! Truly amazing! How will he do in the County Meet on 10-16? (smile)
