2025 North Carolina
Boys State 8A Qualifier (5th Place)
Girls
Girls
State Champs
2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
Boys
State Champs
2010, 2017, 2022
South Meck Invitational
Saturday, August 22nd marked the true start of the invitational season for the Green Hope Falcons. The South Meck Invitational (formerly Ballantyne Ridge and most notably formerly the Providence Invitational) at McAlpine Park is a big, early season race on a fair course. The race always has a pretty large field of teams and generally a very diverse group. The Falcons get to compete against many teams they do not generally see in this August race. For those who do not know McAlpine, the start happens on a very long, open field. After the gun, the runners gradually make their way towards the dirt path to the left of the field and they have about 800 meters of racing in the open before entering the woods and a winding trail. At close to a mile and a half there is a short, but steep hill to ascend and then a very fast downhill soon after before the runners circle a small lake and enter the woods just after the 2 mile mark. We next see the field as they exit the woods and complete a ¾ loop around the same lake as they finish down a 200 meter straightaway.
The first race of the day was the Boys Championship. When the gun sounded the race went out very fast, but the boys were up for the challenge. The boys won the Championship Race in 2025 and hoped to defend their title. At the hill about halfway through the race Nahan Vo was with the lead pack and Rafa Dlott was not too far behind with 6 GH runners in a pack behind him. The big pack broke up a bit as the race progressed, but the boys hung on to win and make it back-to-back championships. Nathan Vo led the team with a 7th place finish (16:13) and was followed by Rafa (16:57), Berk Robottom (17:13), Ryan Skibbe (17:14), and William Dolle (17:18).
The 2nd race of the morning was the Girls championship. The girls were coming off a team victory in the more low-key Early Bird Invitational where they ran some good early season times. There were a couple very good teams at the top of the field with perennial power North Lincoln and defending 8A state champ Green Level ultimately finishing 1-2, but the Green Hope girls claimed 3rd place—only 8pts behind Green Level. Freshman Riley Reeves went out with the lead pack and then made a move in the last 800 meters to claim the runner-up spot. Her time of 18:38 moves her into 2nd place on the all-time freshman list at GH (Maura McDonnell 18:32). Juliette Diaz ran a very strong race behind her finishing with a new career PR of 19:42. Rounding out the team scoring was junior Isabel Short (19:47), junior Kali Hansen (20:15) and senior Riley Blake (20:28).
The 3rd race of the day with Green Hope runners was the JV Boys Race. This is always one of the most fun races of the year with a crowded field of runners and some fast times. Traditionally the boys have dominated this race over the years, showing off the depth of the program. This year the boy’s team lacks the early season depth they normally have so it is important the boys show improvement throughout the season, and this was the first big step. A group of Falcons went to the front right away, led by junior Justin Herrick. Justin was the defending champ in this event, but has been hampered by an early season sickness. On this day, though, he was ready and led start to finish (18:25) and once again led the boys to a commanding victory. Senior Graham Severson finished in 3rd place with a new career PR of 18:25, while junior Hayden Schaeffer also set a new career best (18:41) with a 5th place finish. Sophomores Matthew Leary (18:43) and Logan Call (18:44) also contributed to the very low team score of 22pts (2nd place had 140).
The final race with GH runners was the JV Girls Race, although only 5 Falcons were entered in the race. 6 seniors were taking their SAT, which hurt the team depth a bit, but the girls went after it. The 5 girls knew that all of them were needed to earn a team score. Normally the temperature has risen quite a bit by this race, but on this day it was pretty comfortable for an August race. Amruta Mayadeo, Reagan Flynn, Sylvia Nelson, Reese McKone, and Isabelle Andersson led the girls to a 4th place finish (16 total teams).
The next big race for the Falcons is the Adidas Wolfpack Invitational on Saturday September 19th at Wake Med Soccer Park.