Sanderson cross country
FILE PHOTO
The Sanderson and Millbrook girls cross country teams — as well as Broughton — are expected to be the leading contenders for the Cap-7 Conference title Oct. 20.
Cap-7 Cross Country teams battle for championship Oct. 20
Ask around and you will find out pretty quickly league meets leading up to the Cap-7 Conference Cross Country Championships — scheduled today at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary — are basically just exhibitions.
While winning dual meets are good for building confidence, they don't carry much weight in standings. Why? Because there are none.
The championships are basically a final exam. How each program does in the conference comes down to this one day, and one race.
And today's finale won't be an easy one to pass.
As Millbrook head coach Brian Schneidewind pointed out, the Cap-7 Conference features some of the best boys competition found anywhere.
"Between Sanderson, Broughton, Leesville battling it out, it should be pretty interesting," he said. "Those are three of the best teams in the state right there."
Just how good is the competition? Wakefield head coach Wayne Dubnansky said his squad could run a great race and still sixth.
While the girls teams might not have the overall depth of the boys teams, several standouts like Millbrook's Samantha George, Leesville's Lauren Strapp and Sanderson's Allison and Samantha Cook lead a fierce group of individual runners.
Overall, Sanderson, Broughton and Millbrook are expected to challenge for the girls title today.
Sanderson head coach Ashley Taylor didn't hide the fact that having both her boys and girls squads challenge for a league title is a big deal for the program.
"We have the opportunity to win, more so than we have had in years past," she said.
With Broughton and Sanderson likely to win the boys' race, the girls could be anyone's race, Taylor said. "It will be a toss up as to who gets the day," she added.
The Lady Spartans will be leaning heavily on senior Allison Cook, who has advanced to the state championships each of the past three years.
At Millbrook, behind George, Allora Burke and Megan Corbally have the ability to contend for second team All-Conference, Schneidewind said. (The top 14 runners quality for All-Conference.)
Individuals to keep an eye out for on the boys' side are Millbrook's Richard Miller, Leesville's Aaron Smith, Wakefield's Mitch Mallory and Sanderson's Matt Schick, Philip Hathaway, Matt Geisz, Mitchell Feldman and Ben Boyles.
Leesville's Emily Putnan, Sanderson's Maddie Divittorio and Wakefield's Devon Enderle should be near the first female finishers.
A notoriously hilly course, WakeMed Soccer Park features a 600-meter climb which runners scale twice, including leading up to the finish.
"It's a 5,000-meter race, and basically 1,200 of that is the one hill you run twice," Schneidewind said.
Because next week's regional meet is also held at WakeMed, the league championships provide an excellent warm-up for runners expecting to challenge for in the state championships.
"Winning the conference meet is a huge, huge win, but its mostly for bragging rights," she said. "Our next meet, regionals, is the real important one."
A win today can power a team to a strong finish at regionals, Taylor explained.
Added Schneidewind, "If you do well at regionals, because our region is so tough, you should do well on the state level."
Taylor explained to her runners that they take advantage of their opportunity for a league title, and maybe more, because the future is uncertain.
"Each year is different, and we keep stressing to them that next year's team is a totally different team," she said. "They have to really go after it because it might be their last chance."
Today's varsity boys race begins at 4 p.m., with the girls varsity to follow at 4:30 p.m. The junior varsity boys and girls race kicks off at 5 p.m.
