Green Hope Cross Country

The top seven Green Hope boys faced a long list of regional powers from many different states October 1st in the Great American Cross Country Festival. The top five teams in the latest Southeast Dyestat regional rankings -- Brentwood (TN), St. Xavier (KY), Broughton (NC), Loudon Valley (VA), and Marist( GA) -- plus several other teams ranked #1 in their respective states converged on the WakeMed course Saturday. Runners from all over the southeastern U.S. hoped for fast times, but the Cary area had received an unusual amount of rain the week leading up to the race to add uncertainty to the prospect of fast racing times. While the Falcons themselves hoped for some fast times, they especially were looking for a top-five finish to earn more regional and national attention as the boys have been slightly under the radar.

Peyton Barish (4:38 first mile) and Ian Delgado went out hard right from the starting gun. The announcer seemed surprised when he announced that Green Hope was in second place at the halfway point of the race. It was expected that several of the teams would come on strong in the latter stages of the race. While a couple of the Falcons fell back slightly in the last mile, there were some excellent times and the boys hung on for a 4th place finish (behind St. Xavier, Brentwood, and Loudon Valley) and beat a long list of very strong teams.

Leading the way for the Falcons was Barish who set a new Green Hope XC 5K record with a blazing time of 15:26.7. He was followed by Ian Delgado (15:50), Finn McBride (16:15), Nick Veilleux (16:28), and Daniel Vo (16:41). This was the first race in school history where the Falcons have ever had 2 runners at the same time break 16:00, but they will work on getting the 3-5 runners to close the gap with the 1-2 runners.

The next race for the boys and girls is the NC Runners Elite Invitational on Saturday, October 8, on the state meet course at Ivey Redmon Park in Kernersville.