Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010

Running ahead of the pack

Last fall, the western Wake area produced two team state champions in cross country and one individual championship.

With almost all of those same parts in place again this year, the sport is expected to be among the strongest in the area this fall.

Green Hope returns all five of last year's placing runners from its N.C. High School Athletic Association state championship team and is ranked No. 1 in the state 4-A rankings by milesplit.com. Cary Christian, which won the 1-A/2-A N.C. Independent School Athletic Association state title, returns four of its five placing runners.

Green Hope looks dominant: The Falcons' depth is legendary, and Green Hope may have more students involved in its cross country team than any other high school squad in the country.

But the Falcons showed last year that its real strength is in more than sheer numbers.

Green Hope won the state 4-A title last year and is expected to be one of the top teams in the country. Maura McDonnell, Olivia Enright, Erica Amatori and Jessica Rossabi have each run under 18:45 and finished among the top 13 in the state finals.

Those four, plus Lauren Colberg, each have personal records that rank in the top six in school history.

No other team in the state has that kind of firepower.

"The girls team has been extremely close-knit the past few years, and there is definitely a lot of talent, but we need to stay healthy for the girls to do what they are capable of in November," Falcons coach Mike Miragliuolo said. If there's a team that can challenge the Falcons, it might come from within its own conference.

Cary's distance runners gained national attention last spring with their 4x800 relay and distance medley relay teams. And that same crew is running cross country this fall.

Deanna Foshee ran a 18:37 last year, and Jenna Christensen, Sheridan Jordan and Erin Foshee are all at 20:00 or less.

Cary Christian returns strong roster: The Lady Knights won the 2009 NCISAA 1-A/2-A championship, giving the school its first state championship in any sport.

Of the four state placers returning, Tiffany Hagan and Aundrea Holmes lead the way after being named to the all-state team last year. Holmes (20:07) finished fourth in the state championship while Hagan (20:25) was close behind in eighth.

Cary Christian will also return Caroline Stogner (16th, 21:04) and Laurie Van Deventer (32nd, 22:14) from those who counted towards the team's championship score. Ashley Bolick (68th, 24:04) and Maggie Miller (107th, 25:52) also ran in last year's championship.

Noreen leads way for Apex: Bryan Noreen finished runner-up in last year's Tri-Nine championships, finished 12th in the state and had a personal record of 15:56. Roy Cooper's unit has two more sub-17 runners in Christopher Price and Stefan Vannatta.

The Cougars qualified for last year's Mideast Regional and finished 11th in the state.

Mintz will try to recapture title: Cary Christian senior Bobby Mintz was the NCISAA 1-A/2-A runner-up last year with a time of 15:41. However, Mintz won the individual state championship as a sophomore and will try to recapture that title this year.

He led the way in the Knights' fifth-place finish.