Looking ahead to Wednesday and Saturday, More HC Classic results,

Wednesday, the team goes to Morganton Freedom High School for the PreConference Meet.  This is where the conference meet will take place in a few weeks.  This will be important preparation, since even the seniors have probably never run the Freedom course.

Also on Wednesday (e-mail from Coach Mac):
"We will be feeding the Hospitality House on Wednesday October 2. I ask that each runner bring me at least $3 to help cover the costs of the dinner. We order fried chicken, green beans, and mashed potatoes and gravy from Lowes Foods.  We have an away meet that afternoon, so I may be looking for some parents to pick up and deliver the food for us. Also if there are any parents that would like to serve the food from 5-6:30, it would be appreciated. If we have any runners that need to stay behind for any reason, I will get them to help also."

Saturday, the team leaves very early, at 6:00am  5:45am (NOT 6:00am), to go to the huge Wendy's Invitational.  Runners and spectators should enjoy the McAlpine Park course.  (Good luck, SAT-takers!)

High Country Classic results

Go Blue Ridge -- Mansure Finshes Fourth at HC Classic.  "Kathleen Mansure has put together a consistent season for the Watauga High girl's cross country team"

Michael Holland has also shown consistent excellence this year, in leading the Boys team.  This Boys race was very competitive.  Patrick Sheehan is one of the top few runners in the state, but there were a lot of strong senior runners from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

A lot of PRs, on a difficult course.  Hard work is paying off:
Maddie, Nicole, Sylvia, Hailey, and Madison got PRs.  Maddie improved her time by almost a minute, to 24:32.
Grant ran a strong race, for 4th place in the JV race and a PR 18:47.  Bill, John, Sam, MichaelW, Jake, Evan, Josh, Daniel, Jeremy, Deshawn, ZackP, and Connor all ran PRs.

The results have not been posted for the Open 5K and 2 mile races.  The youngest Vandenberg ran a strong race with Will bike-riding beside him, while Penzi ran a strong 5K.  The Socrates Academy (Matthews, NC) runners made a good showing also.

High Country Classic today! UPDATE

Nice cool, dry conditions at the Greenway.  Lots of parking.  Just a little change in the color in the trees.  The rugby goals are gone.

Results should be very slow.  NCRunners has coverage of today's meets, and our results might show up.  Meet page.

UPDATE
Watauga finished 4th, 4th, 4th, and 5th.
Lake Norman wins Varsity and JV Girls and 2nd in Varsity and JV Boys.  Patrick Sheehan 16:15, probably a course record.  A good day for them.
Spring Valley, from Columbia, SC, won the Varsity Boys and 2nd in Varsity Girls.
Varsity Boys :
Varsity Girls : Kathleen 4th
JV Boys : Grant 4th
JV Girls :
Here's what is most concerning.  In the Varsity race, Lake Norman's freshmen girls finished 1st, 3rd, and 6th.  Then a sophomore 13th.

High Country Classic tomorrow

The Watauga Democrat reports that, "Mansure Named (WHS) Athlete of the Week."  She won last week's race by a wide margin

High Country CC Classic -- meet page.  Last home meet for Watauga seniors.  And maybe the last time WHS holds a meet on the State Farm fields.  Mast General Store is sponsoring.

NC Runners should have some coverage:  "Folks that have run on this course in the past remember it as very flat and very fast, but expansion has turned this into a fairly challenging affair with a hilly, rocky section in the middle.  A solid field of teams has signed up, and cool temperatures should promote some really strong competition."

Let Coach Mac know if you're planning to run the Open 5K.

UPDATE -- Read this interview with Philip Hall of Terry Sanford HS.  They had a great race in Cary last weekend.  (Thanks, NCPrepTrack.)

A Look at Saturday's Meet

Patrick Sheehan, of Lake Norman, won last year's meet and is returning.  He's run 15:17 and 15:22 on fast courses (or maybe just a fast race at WakeMed) so far this year (and Coach Hoyal has a photo of him on his webpage, blocking out Josh Anderson).  Justin Burkey, of Garner (Wake County) and several South Carolina runners should challenge Michael also.

Kathleen came in 4th last year, but none of the runners who finished ahead of her are back.

Coach Hoyal and Coach Quick are probably going to win the Open5K race.  Fastest parent (of a current WHS runner) will probably be Tim Holland.

The Middle School/Kids 2 mile race is difficult to predict because some kids would rather run the Open 5K.  Probably a Perry and a Sprague will win.  A non-Watauga kid could show up and surprise us.

Recycling from previous years

• Wondering how cross country meets are scored?  With a few exceptions, a team's score is the sum of its first 5 finishers' places in the race.  Example from last year: The JV Girls had the lowest score of any team all day, 26 points.  The top 5 finishers came in 1st (Jordan!), 2nd, 4th, 9th, and 10th.  So 1 + 2 + 4 + 9 + 10 = 26.   (Still don't see? See page one here.)  Hint: Lower is better.  15 is really, really good.  In big, competitive races, teams can win with seemingly high scores.  In 1999, the Watauga Boys won the state championship with 64 points. 
• I also like page 3 of this same document, 3: How to Cheer for Distance Runner.  I would also add, if you're going to yell their name, make sure you get it right.  For example, Rachel does not want to be called Sidney.
• Video of a Cross Country pile-up in Illinois, on a turn not too far from the start.
• This article on choosing a college focuses on runners, but is relevant for any student choosing a college.

Parking and directions
Here's a map centered on the Watauga County swim complex.  Parking for the meet is in the gravel lots along Hunting Hills Lane: (1) across from the playground; and (2) past the swimming pool and playground, across from the Armory.
There could be some parking at the end of Intramural Fields Drive (Dale St. on the Google map), but the gate is often left closed.  The races' start and finish will be there, near the covered bridge.  
The big, fenced parking lot that belongs to Appalachian State University will be mostly full of the college students' cars, due to the football game and all downtown (but I'm parking there).  
The race will not be at the high school, although the far point in the race goes right up to the high school property.

Tuesday notes

We still need volunteers for Saturday.  Let me recommend volunteering as course monitor.  Bryce and I will be done after this meet.  We will need somebody next year.  It's a great way to see the races.  If you miss some exciting finishes and some socializing, you'll be there at some of the hardest points in the race.

This Wednesday's practice will be away from the high school.  Runners will be back to WHS a bit late. Probably not as late as last year at Bass Lake.

Please let Coach Mac know if you cannot go to Wendy's on October 5.  Everyone should run Wendy's, unless you have an SAT.

NC Runners has the mid-season team rankings up.  Girls here.  Watauga has not run the fastest courses yet.  As in previous years, it's best not to pay close attention.  Just keep running.

Remaining schedule UPDATE October 8 at Ashe

There are only 6 weeks left until the state meet, and most runners are done after the Conference Championships on October 16.   Let's look at the schedule:

September 28  High Country Classic, Boone
October 2  Pre-Conference Meet, Freedom HS, Morganton
October 5  Wendy's Invitational, McAlpine Park, Charlotte
October 8   Ashe County  (in place of United Way meet October 9; probably not entire team)
October 16  Conference Meet, Freedom HS, Morganton
October 26  Regional Meet, McAlpine Park, Charlotte
November 2  State Meet, Beeson Park, Kernersville

Usually a dozen or so Watauga athletes run at the Foot Locker South Regional on Nov. 30 in Charlotte.  You don't have to qualify for this meet.

There should be a banquet about mid-November.

I am going to turn over this blog to others (maybe you?) in early November, for the track seasons or at least for cross country starting in May, June, or July.

High Country Classic (sponsored by Mast General Store) coming up next Saturday

Next Saturday will be the last home cross country meet for Watauga seniors.

NC Runners meet page: 21 teams signed up so far, including teams from Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia, and faraway Franklin, NC.

Watauga has hosted this meet since 2009 and has lost only once as a team (to Ardrey Kell, in the Boys race in 2010).  Lake Norman, Spring Valley (Columbia, SC), Northwestern (Rock Hill, SC), Wheeler (Marietta, GA), and others will be pretty tough this year.  Go Mudcats!

9:00am   Open 5K race, for anyone, $5
9:40        Middle School 2 mile race
10:00      JV Girls
10:30      JV Boys
11:00      Varsity Girls
11:30      Varsity Boys

Lots of volunteer opportunities still. 

Appalachian State has a home football game at 3:30pm Saturday.

Lots of other big races around North Carolina today.  NCPrepTrack always has a good summary.  NCRunners too.  Dylan Mathewson, who won our meet Wednesday with a 17:34, finished second at the Freedom Invitational in 16:23.  It looks like a much faster course.  That's the course where Watauga will run twice in the coming weeks, including the Conference Championship.  (Here's a video of the course.)  Of course, Saturday's High Country Classic should be faster too, with only one climb and lots of fast runners.  But there probably won't be PRs.

Friday notes

Go Blue Ridge -- Pioneers Pace Field in Home Opener 

Watauga wins Boys and Girls races. UPDATE full results

Kathleen Mansure won by a wide margin (20:27), and Michael Holland (17:43) gave Boys winner Dylan Mathewson (17:34), of South Caldwell, a good race.  Watauga won both team competitions to inaugurate the new home course.

Watauga Democrat -- WHS Cross-country Teams Dominate Meet.  "Watauga [Boys]  runners finished second, third, fourth, and eighth."  "Watauga's girls' team captured the top three places."  Matt Osborn and Lynde Wangler were back in action and finished 4th and 6th.

Full results are posted here on NC Runners' meet page.  Visiting teams included South Caldwell, Freedom, Hibriten, McDowell, and Crossnore.

There are a few volunteer spots left for Friday night at the concession stand.

Home meet -- Boys at 5:00pm. Girls at 5:30pm.

Several of our conference competitors were at the Catawba County Championships yesterday: Fred T. Foard, St. Stephens, Hickory.  Fred T. Foard won both Boys and Girls.

Meanwhile, on our new home course, we should be seeing everyone else from the Northwestern 3A/4A: South Caldwell, Freedom, Hibriten, and Patton this afternoon.

It's cool.  There's a small of chance of rain, not too heavy.  Almost no chance of lightning.

Tuesday notes

Go Blue Ridge -- " Mansure, Holland Pace WHS at Hurman Classic."  "Mansure finished ninth in 19:48.70."  "Michael Holland paced WHS in the boy's varsity race. He finished 11th in 16:31.24; Will Vandenberg of the Pioneers was 23rd in 17:10.83;"

New stage of the season!  Only 2 1/2 weeks to Wendy's. 4 weeks to Conference Championship.
Watauga still has not run on a fast course, although Saturday's was not bad.  NC Runners has posted all-class rankings of the fastest times of the year (but subscription required after top 25).
Kathleen is 55th. Lily 194th.  Celia 216th.
Michael 59th.  Will 150th.  Matt 265th.

Volunteer opportunities this Friday night at the football game concession stand and for the September 28 cross country meet, the High Country Classic.

Home meet Wednesday

Boys at 5:00pm
Girls at 5:30pm
This will happen at the new course that starts below the Watauga High School stadium and does not go near the Covered Bridge and the university parking lots.
Here's a map to the high school (which was completed 3 years ago), Wednesday's course starts near the bottom.

Furman Classic Results

It was a good day to run.  A fun course, a beautiful day, good competition, teammates.  Lots of near PRs and PRs.

Full results here and (of course) at SC (and NC) Runners.

PRs:
Michael, Will, Jacob, and ZackS just missed their PRs.  ZackC and Logan too.
ZakH, 17:49.  Lowered his PR by 51 seconds.
MatthewH, 18:07.  Lowered his PR by 2 minutes!
Connor, 19:11
Devin, 19:12.  PR by 1:07
Gabe, 20:18. PR by over 2 minutes
Patrick, 22:22.  PR by over 2 minutes
Deshawn, 23:17.  PR by nearly 5 minutes.

Lily, 21:01
Finley, 22:20.  PR blasted away by 4  minutes
Lauren, 23:22.  By a minute and a half
Sophia, 24:00. No data on her page, but this must be a PR.
Simran, 25:04.  PR by over 3 minutes
Barbara, 25:22
Chloe, 25:47.  PR by a minute
Elise, 26:37
Sylvia, 26:28.  PR by almost 2 minutes
Catie, 27:03

One thing to watch here.  Watauga was not at full strength, but we don't know about the other teams either.  South Mecklenburg finished just ahead of us in both Varsity races, and we will not want to lose to them at the Regionals.

Furman Classic -- 2nd UPDATE Results -- all of them

Results for all races are posted now:
Kathleen 9th, 19:48; Watauga Girls 10th.  (Shelby was not running.) Finley ran in the 22s, way down from her only other 5K, 26:30 at Hendersonville.  Way to go, Finley! 
Michael 11th, 16:31 (just off his PR of 16:26); Watauga Boys 5th.  Will and JacobS were close to their PRs, but Zak Horine broke his by almost a minute, with 17:49 today.
We'll look at more PRs and near-PRs later. 
Also, WHS XC grads, Julia '12 and Lauren '13, have showed up.

Girls and Boys JV results are up too.  Devin PRed at 19:12.

NCPrepTrack's overview (exact quote -- Thanks):
Providence girls 47, Hardin Valley 77, Dunwoody 91.
Grace Sullivan (Providence) 2nd, 18:15.
Wyatt Maxey (Providence) 1st, 15:12.
Tanis Baldwin (E Henderson) 3rd, 15:19.
Providence boys 2nd, S Meck 4th, Watauga 5th.

Here's the schedule Saturday:

8:30am    Collegiate Women 6k

9:00am    Collegiate Men 8k

9:30am    High School Girls Championship 5K

10:00am  High School Boys Championship 5K

10:30am and 11:00am   Independent School Girls and Boys Championship 5k

11:30am   High School Girl’s JV 5K

12:00pm   High School Boy’s JV 5K

12:45pm  Awards presentation

Results here at Perfect Timing Group and SC Runners meet site.  Probably not 'til mid-afternoon.

The course is at the golf course, on the northwest side of the college campus.  Here's a map -- about 2:40 from Boone.

• Providence, of Charlotte, is very strong this year, Boys and Girls.  We will see them again in late October at the West Regional.
• East Henderson has their runner, Tanis Baldwin, who won the Boys' at the WNC Carnival.
• J.L.Mann, of Greenville and with nearly identical jerseys to Watauga's, will be there.  Get them!
• Strong teams from Tennessee and Georgia too.
• It looks like MattO and Lynde will not run.  Hope to see them running soon.
• It should be a fun course.  Go!

One Goal for Saturday

Two goals for any year at Watauga are to win the conference championships and to qualify at the West 4A Regional for the State 4A Championship meet.

One goal for the Girls this Saturday in Greenville might be to beat J.L. Mann.  That's the team that has the same jerseys as Watauga, possibly copied from Watauga a few years ago.  J.L. Mann only sent their Girls team to the WNC Carnival.  Here are the team results in Championship Girls:



This looks like a big deficit to make up, but with a few more weeks of recovery and training, it's probably going to be partly about paying attention to the other blue shirts.


This is what I'm talking about.  Celia and Shelby with 3 Mann runners.  (Unfortunately, the full shot is subscription only.)

The J.L. Mann Boys team has not competed in a big meet yet this year and it's difficult to predict what they'll do.

It looks like the course is through the golf course, on the west side of the college campus.  Here's a map -- about 2:40 from Boone.  (Thanks, NCPrepTrack.)

Cancelled for lightning, but next Wednesday's meet at Watauga. Saturday in Greenville, SC

Cancelling is disappointing, but lightning is dangerous enough.  Here are several policies.  The first one is very brief and the second has lots of details: National  Federation of State High School Associations' (link from the NCHSAA Health and Safety webpage), and the National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement : Lightning Safety for Athletics and Recreation.  Don't take cover just from the rain or relax when an event is delayed for lightning.  It's worthless to delay the athletic event if athletes and spectators just mill around waiting for the lightning to stop.

Coach Mac reports that next Wednesday's meet will now be at Watauga, instead of Lenoir.  There should be at least 5 teams competing on the challenging new course.  Let's hope for lightning-free skies.

The Furman Classic

Athletes going overnight to Greenville, South Carolina, for the Furman Classic will need $25 and some additional bucks for Friday supper and Saturday lunch.  The team will leave mid-day Friday and not return until about 6:00pm Saturday.

Many college teams will be competing in the 8:30 and 9:00am races.  Keep in mind that many Watauga runners could be collegiate cross country runners at small colleges or for club teams.  For example, NC State's club team competed in last Saturday's meet at UNC Wilmington.

The Furman course is a one mile loop for high school runners and is said to include "obstacles."  It might not be a good place to PR, but it should be fun to run and watch.

Watauga's new XC course!

Coach Mac announces a new course that starts and finishes below the WHS stadium. (It will not start or end at or near the Covered Bridge.)

Boys at 5:00
Girls at 5:30

Home meet Wednesday, Furman Classic Saturday

Freedom, Patton, and South Caldwell at the Greenway Wednesday. South Caldwell has a strong runner, Dylan Mathewson, who will be tough to beat in the Boys race.

Friday, Watauga travels to Greenville, South Carolina, for Saturday's Furman Classic. 

Here is the schedule.  High school events start with Girls Championship 5K at 9:30am.

It looks like Watauga is taking about 38 athletes.  Check the e-mails from Coach Mac and
 let him know if your name is on the list, but you will not be able to go.  The cost will be $25.

Wednesday's full results

Here are the full results from the Caldwell County Invitational.

And the Go Blue Ridge story again.

Girls Win at Caldwell County Invitational UPDATE

Update -- still no results at NC Runners, but Go Blue Ridge -- "Mansure Paces WHS at Caldwell Invite."

No  results yet for the Caldwell County Invitational, but the Watauga Girls won, and the Boys did not.
There will be no practice Thursday.  That's very unusual.  It's said to be due to the prevalence of flu-like illness.

Meet tonight at Lenoir, starting with Varsity Boys at 5:00pm

Meet tonight at Lenoir.  Varsity Boys 5:00, Varsity Girls 5:30, Open Boys 6:00, and Open Girls 6:30.  It looks like there will be no problem getting everyone home.

It's hard to know which teams will show up.  The NC Runners meet page shows Freedom, Lincoln Charter, Lincolnton, Mt. Airy, Surry Central, and West Stokes.  Other teams, such as Watauga, will be there but are not listed.  This meet was cancelled last year (cannot recall why).  Watauga is not likely to win all 4 races as it did in 2011 and 2010 but should be very competitive.

A note from 2011: "Generally we would expect at least a one minute improvement for the faster people from this race to the Wendy’s or United Way courses; for people still getting in shape, a two minute improvement is realistic."

Also, Coach Mac mentioned that the United Way meet is limiting teams to only 18 runners this year -- not enough for Watauga.  There is not much in alternatives that week, unless a new meet is set up.  That might be fun but cannot be easy.  We will wait to see how to update the schedule.

Wednesday meet in Lenoir UPDATE about getting home afterwards

Coming up this Wednesday --  Caldwell County Invitational, at Lenoir Aquatic & Fitness Center.  This meet drew 23+ teams in 2011 and 27+ in 2010 but was cancelled last year.  It's a stormy time of year.

Here's the schedule from Coach Mac.  He adds that after the meet they will not stop to eat, but will come right home. 
UPDATE: ( I think this what Coach is saying) One bus that will take athletes to the meet will not be available to take them home.  The team will depend on parents to drive many (half?) of them home.

4:30 pm - Coach/Adult Race 2500m. 

(If any parents want to run, it is $3. Some of the coaches are doing it, so come join us.)

4:45 pm - Middle School Race 2500m. 

5:00 pm - Boys Varsity 5K. 

(Michael H., Matt O., Jacob S., Zack C., Zack S., Will V., Zak H.)

5:30 pm - Girls Varsity 5K. 

(Kathleen M., Lily W., Celia J., Shelby H., Lauren W., Sophia P., Sidney W.)

6:00 pm - Boys Open 5K. (All other boys) 

6:30 pm - Girls Open 5K. (All other girls)

 It should be all 5Ks for all runners from here on.

Directions to Lenoir Soccer Complex  (Map):  From Boone, take Highway 321 through Blowing Rock to Lenoir. Take a left at Nuway Circle (stoplight before Bo's), go about 0.5 miles and turn right onto Zack Forks Road, which will take you to the soccer complex (on your right) and the start and finish of the race.

Graduates:  Schneider and Vandenberg had good outings for ASU.  Spotted up north.