Boys Quick Highlights - Boys Complete Results

• Ryan Hill ran 9:04 and Patrick Campbell 9:13 in boy's 3200m run
• Dylan Ferris ran 1:53 in the 800
• Darrly Williams hit 21:38 in the prelims and Fuquawn Greene ran 21.44 in the finals
• East Forsyth finished 3rd overall in the team competition

Girls Quick Highlights - Girls Complete Results

• 9th grader Dominique Weathers ran 11.68 & 24.14 in the prelims
• Kelsey McCorkle ran 11.96 in the finals & 24.27 in the prelims
• Maraya Slatter ran 2:18 in the 800, Heather Beichner 2:19
• Beichner also ran 5:07 for 1-mile
• Kimberly Spano 11:25 in the 3200
• Aslynn Halvorson 43-03 in shot, 1:48-09 in disc

Milesplit.US has just released a "Season Best" feature found on your team's page. With HYTEK and RACETAB results so easy to input into our system, you may have noticed, the Network is trying to be more inclusive. Results sent in these formats are immediately uploaded into your team's database, your personal database, NCRunner's database, and the Milesplit.US database. I encourage all teams to try and move towards either HYTEK or RACETAB (a Milesplit.US program).

Here's an example of the new feature: Providence Day's Season Bests

Check out your school's team page!

The Elon High School Classic proved to be a huge success. Coach Rhoden of Elon University said there were over 900 athletes, a little less than last year, but the Easter weekend probably had something to do with it. However, despite numbers being a bit less, there were no shortage of top performances. There were eight meet records set on the boy's side and eleven on the girls!

Sherice Walker tied the 100mH record with a time of 14.67.

Photo by Ben Hovis, NCRunners.com

Tomorrow at the Elon University track some of North Carolina's finest will compete. Last year the meet was windy, cold, and (I think) rainy. Tomorrow the conditions will be much nicer . . . look for some impressive performances.

Performance List

The entries are due by 3:00 this Friday. Entry fees are due at the same time.

More information can be found at the following address

http://www.myersparktrack.com/QueenCity.htm

Nike Indoor Nationals in Landover, MD and the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York City are both this weekend. There are athletes from all over the state competing at both meets. Here are a number of helpful links for you to keep up with all the action.

NIN: North Carolina NIN Athletes | NIN Homepage |

NSIC: North Carolina NSIC Athletes | Live Results |

Milesplit.US National Coverage: Friday | Saturday

 Spencer Adams of Butler qualifies 1st in 60mH. Photo: Don Rich, PA Milesplit

Some of North Carolina's top athletes competed this past weekend - in Idaho, in New York, and a little closer, Chapel Hill.

With the stellar season that NC was already having, you would expect these kids to perform well and that they did. Mulitple US top 10 performances were met and even two US #1's.

Results

Simplot Games | Carolina Chick-Fil-A Invitational | Pepsi National HS Hall of Fame Classic

It was a great day at the 4A state championships. There were a lot of incredible performances as North Carolina's 4A classification is full of some of the nation's best.

One of the most spectacular events was the boy's 55m hurdles. NC continues to shine in this event and this year is no exception. Wayne Davis, Spencer Adams, and Keare Smith finished 1st, 2nd, & 3rd in the event, SO WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? They are currently ranked #1, #2, & #3 in the United States!

The boy's competition was close all day, and in the end there were two teams tied for the state title. East Forsyth and New Bern seemed to be at different ends of the emotional highway when it was all over, but both performed well and deserve the top honors. New Bern was DQ'd in the final event of the day, as there was a trip up in one of the turns and officials felt it was caused by the New Bern athlete. None the less, it was a great day for both teams, a state title is a state title!

On the girls' side the top 3 teams were separated by 6 points. SE Raleigh stepped up and scored 47 points, 3 in front of West Charlotte, to bring home the state title. Myers Park performed very well and scored 41 points, without any field events.

Videos

Results | Photos

Dylan Ferris, boy's meet MVP, won the 1000 (#3 in US) and the 1600. He also helped his team finish 2nd in the 4x800.

Photo by Mark Keenen

Taking a look at the 1A/2A/3A State Championships, there were surprises, obvious wins, and great performances. Let's take a look at the events and get an idea of how they played out.

Prior to the meet starting, the talk on the guys side was that some of the distance runners were going to "go the distance". Meaning, there were going to be some athletes running the 4x800, 1600, 1000, and 3200. There was a bit of hide and seek going on in the boy's 4x800, with both Asheville and Mooresville not letting on to who would be actually be running.

In the poll posted earlier this week, last year's state champs, the girls from Cummings did not receive many votes. However, just as they did last year, they pulled out the victory with stellar performances in a few events. Led by the meet MVP, Sherice Walker, they were able to rack up major points in the long jump, triple jump, and 55m hurdles.

Videos | Results | Photos (coming soon)

Sherice Walker, meet MVP, soared to three individual wins at the state meet.

Photo by Mark Keenen

West Charlotte’s girls look to be the favorites here, led by sprinting star, Nyosha Bryant. However, you can’t count out Harding’s girls who are tough year in and year out. Also, a team that looks pretty good on paper is Pinecrest. They are led by their distance team, but with Shamika McRae’s points in the high jump and triple jump – they could sneak up. Other teams to watch are: Mount Tabor, Myers Park, Cary, SE Raleigh, and Jacinda Evans (Southern Durham).

Photo by Mark Keenen

Who’s going to win? Parkland, Jacksonville, & TC Roberson are receiving the most votes on NCRunners.com. However, I included Cummings, Western Guilford, and Southeast Guilford in the poll as well because they could be sleepers.

Photo by Mark Keenen

The team title could go to a number of teams . . . Parkland has talent in the sprints and middle distance, Mooresville has field and distance, Carver has sprints and jumps, Asheville has a few elite athletes with winning possibilities. This should be an exciting meet and could come down to the final lap of the 4x400.

Today is a big day! It's National Signing Day! (updated regularly)

Help NCRunners.com keep track by sending information to me at ben@ncrunners.com

Send your name, high school, events, future college - and most importantly . . . send a picture from your signing.

I will post all college signings in this article as 2008 progresses. There will remain a quick link to this page in the navigation bar, see above.

North Carolina's most recent XC All-Americans will be training together next year at the North Carolina State University. They will join the Wolfpack, despite being heavily recruited by a number of other big schools.

Photos by John Herzog of Milestat.com at Foot Locker Nationals

The performance lists are now out for this weekend's 1A/2A/3A and 4A state meets.

The competition should be fierce with events up for grabs.

For performance lists, check out NCHSAA.org Indoor's page

St. Christopher's Mid-Atlantic Track Clash

Photos: Boy's 3200m | Champs | Girl's 1000 | Boy's 300 | Boy's 500 |

TJ Graham of Wakefield and Dakota Peachee have big days in Richmond, VA.

Photo by Mark Keenen.

Booker Nunley of Garner High School, the #2 ranked hurdler in the United States, found out on Monday that he would be ineligble for the remainder of the indoor season and all of the outdoor season. Why you ask?

Booker needed one last class to graduate during the 2007-2008 school year. At first, he thought he would go ahead and take that class, then graduate early. However, with the vast improvement he was making during the summer, he was encouraged by many to finish off a full senior year. Booker listened to those that suggested this move, thus decided to be a normal senior and complete the year. However, during the process of preparing for the school year, he only registered for two classes. Rules state that athletes must take 3 classes a semester(in a block schedule like Garner's) in order to be eligible for the next semester's athletics. This is the huge problem.

No one at Booker's school noticed this mistake: not his coach, not his counselor, not the Athletic Director, nor the Principal. One person, his track coach, served as three of the previously mentioned roles.

So the question becomes where was the ball dropped? It seems this is a situation that could've easily been prevented.

Scott Houston of Northwest Guilford is one of the top pole vaulters in the US. He is currently ranked #2 nationally with his vault of 16-10. This mark was almost a foot better than his previous best, and it broke the old state record by 8 inches.

Scott's improvement has been noticed by many in the pole vaulting community. Recently, Shannon Pope, the former NC record holder contacted me because he wanted to congratulate Scott.

Mike Byrnes of the National Scholastic Sports Federation has just written an article which is now posted on NationalScholastic.org. Check it out, as Scott is now making a name for pole vaulting in NC.

The boy's rankings is much closer at the top. There are 5 teams within 20 points of one another, two 4A schools and three 3A schools.

From the looks of it, both state meets will be highly competitive.

New Bern is on top for 4A and Asheville sits at the top for the 1A/2A/3A schools. 

The indoor season for North Carolina is just about over, believe it or not. The state meet is in a couple weeks and then many will prepare for Nike Indoor Nationals.

Here is a look at the top teams in the state. The rankings are based on the "Indoor" Rankings and not the "Winter" Rankings.

So, looking at the rankings. West Charlotte's girls are the top ranked 4A school. While Cummings, last year's 1A/2A/3A state indoor champs, could win again this year.

North Carolina athletes put together some amazing marks at Virginia Tech this weekend.

For now, check the results . . . things to look for - Wayne Davis!!! Boy's mile, girl's sprints, boy's pole vault, relays, and more

Photo: courtesy of John Herzog, Milestat.com photographer

Some of North Carolina's best will travel to Virginia Tech this weekend, looking for some new competition and top marks.

Here's a short list of some attending V-Tech: Dylan Ferris, Patrick Campbell, Nyosha Bryant, Wayne Davis, Scott Houston, and New Bern (entered in both meets).

Let's take a closer look . . .

North Carolina athletes performed well over the weekend.

Photo taken by Ted Plunkett, Milestat.

Wayne Davis Video - 60mH Finals and interview with Brandon Miles of Milestat.com

At the Asics High School Invitational in Virginia, Kelsey McCorkle, Mike Price, Wayne Davis, Brandy Swann, Anthony Hendrix, Jonique Fonville, Dannielle Davis, and Fuquawn Green all came away with individual titles.

 Asics photos: Hoerner Gallery | Plunkett Gallery

The KTC High School Indoor Track Classic, in Tennessee, John Harwell, Taylor Cook, and Dannielle Hobbs were the only individual winners. However, Nyosha Bryant, Aslynn Halvorson, Taylor Cook, and Ashley Bethune turned in top performances as well.

Many athletes from North Carolina are headed to Tennessee for the Knoxville Track Club meet. Check out the performance lists. 

Dylan Ferris of East Forsyth and Nyosha Bryant of West Charlotte will lead NC. 

In its third decade of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade has announced its 2007-08 Boys & Girls Cross Country Runners of the Year. Gatorade and RISE teamed up to name State Boys & Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year award winners representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Check out who was named ROY for North Carolina. 

Scott Houston, last year's 4A state indoor and outdoor pole vault champion may just be in a class of his own.

North Carolina has a limited amount of indoor meets in the state. Appalachian State hosted one in December, the Durham Striders hosted the NC Opener, and they will also host the Eastern HS Challenge later this month.

With few actual indoor meets, many of the states track athletes all converge on one place. This is what happened at the Durham Striders HS Opener. Kids from all over the state, New Bern to Wilmington to Charlotte to Hendersonville to Boone to Raleigh and everywhere inbewteen, made the trip to Chapel Hill.

There were some fine performances by North Caroilina athletes. 

RESULTS: Boys | Girls

TOP PERFORMERS: NCRunners' Elites

Durham Striders HS Opener Video - Various clips from the meet

The boy's meet looks to be exciting with a few of the nations top returning individuals headed to the Eddie Field House.  

Here's a quick glimpse into this weekend's events for the girls.

Every year, there are a number of coaches who enter some pretty crazy times, 2008 has begun the same way. There are a number of girls ranked highly in some events who I don't know about. Hopefully, they will prove to be for real this weekend.