9/20 High School XC Weekend Recap

National High School XC Weekend Recaps (2014)
MileSplit Staff

adidas XC Challenge (NC)

September 20, 2014 @ WakeMed Soccer Complex in Cary, NC

It will be hard to find a team in the Southeast that can compete with the Blacksburg girls. At the adidas XC Challenge on Saturday, which is held as the same venue as the NXN Southeast Regional in November, the US #7 ranked squad from Blacksburg put 5 runners in the top 20 and all well under 18 minutes ranging from 18:08 to 18:44 to win the meet by a whopping 126 points.

In an individual battle between two of the country's top sophomore cross country runners and in a race loaded with fast 10th graders (7 of the top 14 finishers), Virginia 4-time state champ Libby Davidson of E.C. Glass (VA) was able to pull away from Sara Ragsdale of Ragsdale (NC) in the final for a personal best 17:16 victory. Following her meet record performance last week at Knights Crossing, Davidson is no longer a future star of the sport. She is a star today.  

Phillip Hall of South View successfully defended his adidas XC Challenge title from a year ago with a season best 5K time performance of 15:12 at WakeMed.  Hall won by a 11 seconds and pulled with ease from other top North Carolina runners Kyle Christ (2nd, 15:23) of West Johnston and Jeremy Brown (3rd, 15:28) of Broughton. New Balance Nationals freshmen 2 mile outdoor champ Nick Dahl of Germantown Friends in Pennsylvania grabbed fourth place in a big PR time of 15:29.

On Friday, US #20 ranked Ryen Frazier (Ravenscroft School NC) started her cross country season on Friday running unattached in the college/open race on Friday at the adidas Challenge with a 17:37 5K third place finish at WakeMed. Frazier, who does not run for her high school during the cross country season, has run 17:02 for 5,000 meters on the track, but her race on Friday was a new cross country PR at the distance. 

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