McGuinness girls ready to keep cross-country title

By: Mason Linker | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: November 06, 2009

If the Bishop McGuinness girls are nervous about defending their state title in Saturday's NCHSAA 1-A cross-country championships, Coach Robert Youtz hasn't been able to tell.

"They have had a good week of training, they are loose, having fun and not talking about repeating," Youtz said. "They are saying it's a new year, a new season and a new team. They are going into it with high expectations. If they go out and give 100-percent effort, hopefully the cards fall in their favor. If they give their best effort, we will be right there in the mix of it."

The Villains, led by Meredith Bennett, will have another chance at a team title at Tanglewood Park, and junior Carol Blankenship of East Wilkes is among the top individual contenders. Defending champ Faith Trammell of Robbinsville also will be in the race.

The Class 4-A girls field is wide open, and runners from Mount Tabor and Northwest Guilford could be in the mix for top-10 finishes. Sophomore Alyssa Torres of Northwest won the Midwest 4-A Regional last week, finishing five seconds ahead of teammate Chelsea Hollingsworth. They were followed by junior Margaret Leak and sophomore Sam Campanaro of Mount Tabor, who both finished within 20 seconds of Torres.

Two freshmen from area schools also have a chance to finish among the top runners Saturday. Laney Browder of Wilkes Central won the Midwest 2-A Regional last week, and Anna McBride of Davie County continued her strong season with a sixth-place finish in the Midwest 4-A Regional.

Youtz said that Katie Pellitteri, Ali Craven and Rose O'Shea, three of his top five, were getting over the flu last weekend when McGuinness edged Misenheimer Gray Stone Day for the regional title. He thinks all three will be close to full strength Saturday.

"It's a four-team race between Robbinsville, North Carolina Science and Math, us and Hendersonville," Youtz said. "I think it will be among those four unless some team shocks me. We are all pretty similar. The first three runners on the teams are similar, and it could come down to fourth and fifth runners."

East Wilkes' Blankenship has had it tough in her first two state meets. Last year, she hobbled around Tanglewood with a lower-leg stress fracture and still finished third. In 2007 as a freshman, she was running with the leaders at the midpoint but passed out.

"She passed completely out," said Coach Anita Tharpe of East Wilkes. "As the country folks say, she hit the ground like a sack of taters. She has had some bad luck at Tanglewood, but this year she is healthy.

"She has not been beaten all year, and we have run against 2-A and 3-A schools."

Saturday: An overview of the championships

mlinker@wsjournal.com

727-7324

NCHSAA cross country

The basics

Day: Saturday

Site: Tanglewood Park

Distance: 3.1 miles

Schedule: 1-A boys (10 a.m.); 2-A boys (10:30); 1-A girls (11 a.m.); 2-A girls (11:30); 3-A boys (2 p.m.); 4-A boys (2:30); 3-A girls (3 p.m.); 4-A girls (3:30)

Admission: $6/person