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Southeast Region
Regional Meet: November 29, 2008 at Cary NC

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Two teams and five individuals per gender qualify for NXN national finals December 6, 2008 at Portland OR. 

Three-way girls battle the story in Cary
Clubs from Tatnall DE, Collins Hill GA, Mtn Brook AL in for showdown of US girls powers;
Colley-led Jamestown VA is the class of boys field

Preview by SteveU, DyeStat/ESPN RISE senior editor

They can talk about their great teams, their great rivalries and their top rankings all they want.  But if you like a great three-way showdown between intriguing geographically-spread rivals, you can’t get much better than the Southeast Region girls championship Saturday on the march to Nike Cross Nationals.

At one end of the region are the girls of US#4/SE#1 Tatnall DE (Wilmington XC club); at the other, those representing US#6/SE#2 Collins Hill GA (Suwanee XC) and US#14/SE#3 Mountain Brook AL (Bama XC).  Each has a different storyline, with Tatnall on the return, hoping for its 2nd trip to Portland spanning the career of its senior leader Juliet Bottorff; Collins Hill on a steady climb, with its greatest group ever led by senior Amanda Winslow; and Mountain Brook hoping to get back where it was last year when they dominated the Southeast and now-senior Madeline Morgan rocked the harrier world with her individual title.

No one wants to count on the possibility of an at-large bid, so it’s three great teams (and some others, to be sure) for two spots when they toe the line in Cary NC.

As for the boys race?  Perhaps more of a coronation.  US#20/SE#1 Jamestown VA (Jamestown XC Project), with Andrew Colley leading a superlative top three, took over VA and the region at mid-season and it’s hard to imagine anyone topping them.

Girls:  Three powerhouses, two spots

The transitional moment in the girls cross-country season, from an NXN SE perspective, came September 27 at the McDonald’s Festival at Maymont.  There Tatnall and Collins Hill, two schools which probably wouldn’t think about each other much if it wasn’t for the expansive region they both occupy, engaged in an epic clash.  Collins Hill, with Winslow leading the way, won the first three spots.  Then Tatnall used a 10-point edge on the 4th girl to take a 3-point lead … only to lose it on the 5th runner. 

The two teams had tallied 69 points each, so it went to a 6th-runner tiebreaker, where Tatnall’s Katie Oldham was four spots and three seconds ahead of Collins Hill’s Sydney Williams.  Game, set, match to the Delaware school.

Since then, they’ve remained 1-2 in that order in the NXN SE.  Two weeks later, there was another opportunity for movement in the rankings, but Tatnall held their own with a 2nd at Manhattan, while Collins Hill beat Mountain Brook by 32 points at Great American.

When each lined up for their state meets, the level of dominance was breathtaking.  Tatnall swept the first five spots in their meet for a perfect 15.  Collins Hill, competing of course in a much bigger class and state, needed just 19 markers to destroy their 5A field.

Both teams have the ultimate veteran leaders.  For Tatnall, it’s Juliet Bottorff, who is a 3-time state champ.  She gets close backup from fast improving freshman Haley Pierce, who was 2nd at state, 10 seconds back.  Otherwise, it’s a veteran group with senior Katie Buenaga and junior Kallie Fehr and Molly Parsons.  They had a :45 spread at state, though obviously they weren’t pushed as hard as Maymont where it was 1:33.

For Collins Hill, it’s 2-time state champ Amanda Winslow.  She’s supported by soph sister Vicky, sr Allyson McGinty, jr Nicky Akanda, and fr Chloe Whitworth.  It’s worth noting that McGinty ran much better at state than at Maymont, a factor that may help tip things in favor of the Georgia power.

Then there’s Mountain Brook (Bama XC).  They basically brought everyone back on a team that was the pre-season #1 in the SE and the #1 most of last year, too.  They were beaten into third by Tatnall (Wilmington XC) and Collins Hill (Suwanee) at NXN SE last year, but were far ahead of those rivals at the Finals (6th to 19th and 20th).

Senior Madeline Morgan, of course, is the defending NXN champion.  Healthy and injury issues have had her up and down this year, but after a disappointing state meet, she’s said to have been healthy and training well leading up to NXN.  At state, Marie Demedicis and Leslie Boozer ran the kind of races the team will need this weekend and showing how far they’ve come during the season.  Whether their fourth and fifth are strong enough to hang with Tatnall and Suwanee is the question. 

Four of the other members of the top 10 are here, but will be hard-pressed to get one of the top two spots.  2007 Foot Locker Finalist Kat Lautzenheiser leads SE#4 Midlothian (Midlothian TC), which was the VA 3A champ.  They are followed by VA 2A powers SE#5 Blacksburg (Blacksburg XC) and #6 Hidden Valley (Roanoke Titans), which went 1-2 at state (separated by a 6th-man tiebreaker); and SE#7 Chiles FL (Chiles Wolfpack TC), the dominant 2A champ.

The field is filled out by bubble teams Science Hill TN (Johnson City RC), Oak Ridge TN (Knoxville Track), Green Hope (Western Cary XC), and Community School of Naples FL (Naples Seahawks), and Charlotte Latin (Charlotte Latin XC).

Individually, you can expect each of the top three clubs’ #1 to be battling for the win, with Winslow holding an edge over Morgan and Bottorff – though if Morgan is truly in top form, all bets are off.  Lautzenheiser will definitely be up there as well.  Given the star talent at the top of each of the top 3-4 teams, the 5th of the five individual qualifiers could be several spots further down the list.

Boys:  Colley, Jamestown all the way

This isn’t a banner year for Southeast teams, relative to the national scene, with Jamestown VA at #20 being the top dog.  But with a potentially decisive victory here, they would like to go on to Portland and show that they’ve been underappreciated.

They are led by the aforementioned Colley, who is ranked #7 in the country and set a state course record in winning the 2A title.  Jamestown’s strength has been in its big three – with Colin Mearns and John Holt following Colley for one of the best 1-2-3 punches in the country. 

Beyond Jamestown, the field is weakened somewhat by the absence of SE#2 Oakton and three others that were in the top 10.  The other five that are here include NC 4A champ SE#3 Broughton (Capital Distance Club), KY 3A champ SE#4 Daviess County (RRL), FL 2A champ SE#6 Belen Prep (Belen Jesuit Magis), VA 3A runner-up SE#9 Albemarle County (5 Guys), and VA 2A runner-up SE#10 Blacksburg (Blacksburg XC). 

One chance some of these teams had to meet was also at Maymont, where Jamestown won, ahead of Collins Hill GA (formerly ranked) and Broughton,

The field is also populated with many NXN SE bubble teams, including Potomac Falls VA (Algonkian Parkway Elite), Mountain Brook AL (Bama XC), Hoover AL (Birmingham XC), Calvert Hall MD (Calvert Hall College XC), Flowery Branch GA (Flowery Branch Lanier RC), Oak Ridge (Knoxville Track), Lexington Christian KY (Lexington XC), St. Xavier KY (Louisville XC), Melbourne FL (Melbourne Distance Project), Collins Hill GA (Suwanee XC), Tampa Jesuit FL (Tampa Jesuit XC), Louisville Trinity (Walter’s RC), and Green Hope (Western Cary XC). 

Other entries include Clarke County VA (Clarke Kents TC), Durham Academy NC (Durham Irons), and Gonzaga MD (Gonzaga Eagles).

Individually, Colley is obviously the man to beat.  His best competition should come from Florida 4A champ Brian Atkinson, who leads his Melbourne team.  An individual entry from Maryland, Andrew Palmer was 2nd to Solomon Haile in the MD 4A meet and should also be right in there.  Another from Florida to reckon with is Connor Revord of Tampa Jesuit, the 6th-place finisher in FL 2A.  Then there’s Hoover’s Patrick McGregor, who has been up and down but won the AL 6A title last year and was 4th at Great American.  He is best known as the NIN Mile runner-up last winter.


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