Green Hope Cross Country

One of the major stories from the 2011 Tri-9 Conference Meet was the end of the boys team’s 9 year run as conference champions, as the Falcons finished 3^rd behind Panther Creek and Cary. That was the only sour note, though, on another fantastic day of racing for GHXC. The girls team easily won their 4^th title in a row and 9^th in 10 years, while both JV teams won their 10^th straight conference titles. Here were some of the highlights:

Girls Varsity Race: As expected, the Falcons cruised to the win. The major questions entering the race were how many girls would make the 15 member all-conference squad and which Green Hope runner would cross the line 1^st to win the conference MVP? The answer to the 1^st question was impressive, as the Falcons put a conference record 11 girls in the top 15. Mo McDonnell and Erica Amatori were running together halfway up the final hill, but McDonnell used her strong kick to edge out Amatori for the win. Earning all-conference status were McDonnell, Amatori, Lauren Colberg, Jessie Rossabi, Theresa Enright, Sarah Alexander, Savannah Lips, Allie Worsdale, Shewit Weldense, Mary Alex England, and Shannon Scovel.

Boys Varsity Race: The boys team was never really in contention for the title, but finished a respectable 3^rd. Tom Nobles got out fast and ran a strong race, though and was joined on the all-conference team by Corey Colberg and Daniel Glover. Team depth has always been a strong point for the Falcons in past years, but it wasn’t enough on Wednesday as the Falcons youth was evident. On the upside, only 1 of the top 7 finishers for the boys is a senior. The future of the GHXC boys team looks to be a bright one.

Girls JV Race: Yet again the girls JV team showed the depth of the program as they earned a perfect score of 15 for at least the 6^th consecutive year and won their 10^th straight title. Kristen Lospinoso cruised to a win by 22 seconds over runner-up (and 2010 champion) Rose Kim. The top 8 finishers (and 13 of the first 14) were Green Hope runners and were led by Lospinoso, Kim, Natsumi Koyama, Katie Surratt, Kelly Hagan, Meaghan Nazareth, Emma Lux, and Cami Andreini.

Boys JV Race: The boys JV team also won its 10^th title in a row and was led by juniors Kevin Kronk and Alex Jeffs and seniors Steven Sartori and Ganesh Kalipershad to a very low score of 23 (to 38 for 2^nd place Apex). Brad Pehr, Matthew Kalberg, and Parker Manning also had top 10 finishes.

Next up for the Falcons runners is the Mideast Regional Meet at Wake Med on Saturday October 29^th. Race times are: 10:00 boys, 11:00 girls. Best of luck as the Falcons try to qualify for the 4A state championship.