After such a great weekend for North Carolina at the Eastern High School Challenge and the Virginia Tech Invitationa, it seems crazy to bring up something negative. However, this must be SEEN!

Here is a closer look at the Eastern High School Challenge. There were obvious problems with the entry times and the performance standards. Many coaches are entering athletes with seeded times to simply get them into the meet. I talked with many coaches during the meet and most coaches are upset with all the "tweaking" of times. Obviously, this does not take into account falls, injuries, bad races, etc.

So, I have highlighted all the marks that didn't meet the performance standards. Then I figured out a number of averages . . . hope you find this interesting.

The Eastern High School Challenge turned in some stellar performances across the board.

Full coverage will not be up until tomorrow, but in the meantime, be sure to check out what is already posted.

Videos, pictures, highlights, etc. will periodically be loaded, so check back often.

Results: Day 1 | Day 2

Video of just about every race was taken, take some time to watch.

Kelsey McCorkle of South Central will lead the girl's sprints. 

The Eastern High School Challenge is the 2nd meet this season at the Eddie Field House on Chapel Hill's campus. There was a bit of confusion leading up to the NC Opener as the Durham Striders had to create performance standards because the entries were so abundant.

This meet looks to be great as many of NC's best will be in attendance, however - there are still issues with entries. 

Performance standards have been set for this meet since it's beginnings. However, coaches often only look at these standards like, "How fast will I have to fudge my athletes marks to get them into the meet?"

I'm still amazed, after all the talk, that coaches continue to enter marks which aren't even close to what their athletes can do.

I know some athletes will have bad races and will not meet the standards due to that reason. After the meet, NCRunners will definitely revisit the standards and do a bit of analysis. Take a look at this analysis from the NC Opener (scroll down). 

Weather conditions in Cumberland County may cancel the Saturday meet. For more details . . .

 Photo: By Mark Keenan, from NC HS opener last weekend.

New Bern, Sam Jordan of Laney, Booker Nunley of Garner, and Wayne Davis of SE Raleigh all traveled as a part of Track EC and lit up the track.

North Carolina continues to prove to the rest of the US that it is a hotbed for track. Last year, multiple national champions and numerous top-5 performers came out of the Tarheel state. This year looks to be the same!

Well . . . the first ever NCRunners.com Show is in the books. It was an honor to sit down and talk with Patrick Campbell and Ryan Hill.

The show is about 24 minutes long, so please set aside some time to check it out.

And yes . . . the entire show was serious. See for yourself.

The NCRunners.com Show Part 1

The NCRunners.com Show Part 2

Some of last year's best athletes have quickly put themselves right back at the top.

Liberty University has hosted 2 early indoor meets which some NC teams have decided to travel to. While many teams are running outdoors in "polar bear" meets, Parkland, Cummings and a few others have made the trek to Virginia for the indoors. 

Foot Locker Nationals proves to be huge success for both runners . . . they have made all of NC proud! Congrats, guys.

Ryan Hill of Hickory finished 11th in 15:32

Hill post race interview

Patrick Campbell of Mooresville came across in 15:38 for 14th.

Campbell post race interview 

Course Preview Video: Nice shot of Hill and Campbell climbing the steep hill. Ryan's giving him some advice. 

Photo: Ryan Hill previewing the course on Friday. Taken by John Herzog, Milestat.com 

* Ryan Hill and Patrick Campbell will represent North Carolina in San Diego.

* Don't forget to get your Foot Locker predictions in. Check out the rules.

* Foot Locker National coverage on Milesplit.US beginning tomorrow

* LIVE WEBCAST on FootLockerCC.com 

December 8th - 9:15 Girls & 10:00 Boys (Pacific Coast Times)

Photo: Patrick Campbell (medal) and his Mooresville crew after finishing 9th at the South Regional & qualifying for Nationals

Some of you may have been searching around like me, simply looking at all the updated stats after the Foot Locker South Regional. I wanted to make it a bit easier for you.

Now, some of these stats mean absolutely nothing, as the state meet is over . . . but still fun to look at. There were some major improvements by many athletes at the FLS meet, some which could've affected state meet results had they happened sooner. But . . . they didn't.

Should be a great XC season in 2008.

Newest stat - Top 25 Foot Locker South Region Returnees for 2008 

Here is the latest list of North Carolina athletes, we're up to 456.

It has been a great year for NC track & XC. Thanks for all your help in making NCRunners.com a valuable resource. Find out what NCRunners.com is thankful for.

Photo: Ryan Hill winning last year's FLS meet.

This weekend are two very large meets: the Foot Locker South Regional and the NTN Southeast Regional. One is right here in NC, and the other is in Hoover, Alabama.

Two NC teams decided to race at the first ever NTN Regional in Hoover. Green Hope and Broughton are headed down south in the hopes to shock other SE teams and qualify for NTN Nationals. Should one or both of the teams qualify, they will keep the NC streak alive, as Chapel Hill has attended the National meet the last 2 years.

Ryan Hill of Hickory looks to lead a very large NC contingent at this year's Foot Locker meet. He won the Regional last year and has hopes of repeating his victory. 

Now it's just Campbell and Hill, the two 3A athletes left of the 4 horsemen.

**10/16/07 News: Taylor Gilland won't be running at FLS. The minor injury has turned out to be a bit more than originally expected. Coach Olsen just sent me an email filling me in. "Taylor hip flexor problem altered his stride pattern and has caused a stress fracture in /on his shin. He'll spend the next 6-8 weeks aqua-jogging."

**10/17/07 News: Nick Graw is most likely done as well. Word from Coach Olsen is that Graw has also decided to shut his season down. Not sure on the details.

Heat Assignments now posted on both meet websites.

Ryan Hill highlights the day with a new COURSE RECORD, 15:30!
 

 **Sorry, major error with the photos . . . duplicating picture numbers simply copied over others. I do apologize!

NCHSAA 1A
Results: Boys | Girls
Video: Boys | Girls
Post Race Recap

NCHSAA 2A
Results: Boys | Girls
Video: Boys | Girls
Post Race Recap

NCHSAA 3A
Results: Boys | Girls
Video: Boys | Girls
Post Race Recap

NCHSAA 4A
Results: Boys | Girls
Video: Boys | Girls
Post Race Recap

Interviews: Chick Fil-A Cow | Daniel Kimmel & Cam Cook | Mark Sullivan | Ricky Rivas | Josey Weaver | Heather Beichner | Sarah Willingham | Zatha Loewen | Heather Hofmann & Cissy Nitz | Ryan Hill | Patrick Campbell | Will Taylor | Taylor Gilland | Patrick Crawford | Kaitlin Davis | Lindsay Ester | Andie Cozzarelli | Kimberly Spano

The competition in the boy's 4A tam competition may be the best ever. There are numerous teams with 5 athletes under 17:00. Pack running may turn out to be the name of the game after the boy's race is over.

The girls competition is also going to be great. The individual title should be a great race with some very talented girls.

Let the fun begin! 

Photo: Taylor Gilland and Nick Graw will battle again! Photo by Mark Keenan from Wendy's Invitational. 

Kaitlyn Davis will look to take Caroline Kirby's title 

Photo from Seahawk Invite, by Ben Hovis

The 3A meet features some of North Carolina's top talent. There are individuals like Ryan Hill, Patrick Campbell, Caroline Kirby, and others . . . then there are also 2 top teams in Mooresville's boys and TC Roberson's girls.

There is going to be some very fast racing being done in both races and I truly look forward to watching.  

This is the final poll for the NCISAA, as their state meet was this past Saturday. Congrats to all the NCISAA schools for successful XC seasons.

The NCHSAA schools participated in their regionals this past weekend. There were 16 in all, 4 in each classification. The state meet is this Saturday at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, NC.

Next week will be the final poll of the season. It will also contain a All-Classification Top 15.  

16 of 16 regionals are in. Although, still would like full results from 1A East.

Check out the teams that made it, the individuals that made it, and full results.

Note: Elite performances are going to take some time to put up. Patience! 

The Coaches Poll has been coming out every other week for most of the season, but at this championship time, we decided to release a weekly poll. So here is your post-conference poll, next week will be the post-regional poll, and then of course we'll have the post-state meet poll.

The NCISAA state meet is on Friday, so the last voting period for the Independent school coaches will be next week, after the state meets are over.

Thanks again to all those who have been taking part in the voting process. I truly value your opinions and appreciate your help. We wouldn't have a coaches poll without you!

 **Note update in boys 1A poll

On Friday morning at McAlpine Park, the first of 12 XC state titles will be awarded. The NCISAA state meet begins at 9:30 am with the 3A girl’s race, followed by the 3A boy’s race at 10:10. A bit later in the day, the 1A/2A races will go off, and be followed by their awards ceremony at 1:30.

Let’s take a look at the races.

There are tons of conference meets going on in North Carolina this week. I want to try and create a huge database of conference champions, both teams and individuals.

Coaches, PLEASE send me your results!

Athletes, PLEASE encourage your coaches to send results or send them yourself.

Send results to either: ben@ncrunners.com or ben.hovis@providenceday.org  

Dakota Norris of Mitchell High School was 4th last year at the 2A state championships and would like to finish higher this year.

Dakota lives about an hour from the base of Mt. Mitchell. For those that don't remember their 4th grade Social Studies curriculum, Mt. Mitchell is the highest point in North Carolina at 6,684 feet. Dakota lives at about 3,000 feet above sea level and often trains even higher when at Roan Mountain. Going to new heights is no problem for Dakota, so climbing to the top of the 2A classification is something he truly looks forward to.

Photo: Dakota racing at the WNC CC Carnival in August of 2007.

Photo: Winner Patrick Crawford being chased by 2nd place finisher Derrick Poage. Photo taken by PD coach, Sarah Terry.

The Tanglewood Invitational marks the end of the "Invitational Season" in North Carolina. There may be a few dual and tri meets left out there, but for the most part, the regular season is over and it's time for the "Championshp Season".

Most conferences will have their championship over the next week and a half. Then in 2 weekends, the public schools will head to their Regional meets and the NCISAA schools will head to McAlpine Park for their State Championship.

Let's take a look at the final invite of the season. 

Results: Boys Champ | Girls Champ | Boys Invite | Girls Invite | Boys Open | Girls Open | Boys JV | Girls JV 

Great American has changed quite a bit since it left North Carolina. The meet started here in Charlotte, spent a year in nearby Rock Hill, back to Charlotte, and then went to Cary. This is the 2nd year it has been held in Hoover, Alabama. Last year a number of NC teams and individuals made the trek to see what Hoover would be like . . . it was hot and miserable.

Don't get me wrong, the course was unique and spectator friendly, but it wasn't North Carolina. (insert smile and wink here)