Foot Locker South
McAlpine Park, Charlotte, NC | Saturday, Nov. 28 | Girls Championship Race 10:00am ET | Boys Championship Race 10:40am ETStates: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands
Boys Race Preview
EntriesFlo50 Individuals: No. 1 Andrew Hunter, No. 6 Carter Blunt, No. 21 Gannon Willcutts, Bubble Connor Lane
Top Returners (2014 regional placement): Andrew Hunter (1st), Carter Blunt (2nd), Gannon Willcutts (7th), Steven Cross (8th), Brandon Marquez (11th), Jonathan Lomogda (13th), TJ Sugg (23rd), Johnathan Chavez (24th), Tyler Cox-Philyaw (25th), Parker Scott (28th)
11/25 UPDATE: Carter Blunt is out for the remainder of the season with an injury
Last year's 1-2 finishers in Drew Hunter of Loudon Valley, Va. and Carter Blunt of Frisco Independence, Texas return to McAlpine Park for their first true challenge of the fall.
Hunter, the No. 1 ranked runner in the nation, dominated this race last year by 18 seconds over Blunt, finishing in 14:36 to 14:54. Both runners are undefeated this fall and while Hunter did not improve his Virginia state meet record, he did show signs of significant improvement in clocking an astounding 14:20.8 over 5K to win the Third Battle Invitational. For reference, he ran "just" 14:54.4 to win the same race last fall.
Hunter went on to finish fourth in San Diego last year; he is the top returner followed by Austin Tamagno of California (fifth in 2014) and No. 3 Blunt, who took 13th at the championship - again, like Foot Locker South, exactly 18 seconds behind Hunter.
What kind of threat could Blunt possibly pose? Well, the No. 6 ranked senior is more rested this season. One year after tackling a full cross country season and appearances at both NXN and Foot Locker Regionals and Nationals, Blunt has significantly scaled back his racing schedule. The defending New Balance Nationals Outdoor Two Mile champion (8:58 PR) has raced just five times so far, including a few easy "cruise to the title" type wins because, let's face it - he simply doesn't have to try that hard to win in Texas. Last year at this time, Blunt had nine races under his belt.
Hunter has also scaled back a bit - he has six races under his belt as opposed to his nine pre-Foot Locker South races in 2014. He also has that dirty 8:42 two mile PR and the notoriety of being the sole prep to take down 2013/2014 Foot Locker champ Grant Fisher...
It's possible for Blunt to win here, but we're not going to bet against a Hunter on a mission. (See what I did there?)
PICKS: 1. Drew Hunter 2. Carter Blunt
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