NCRunners Elite Invitational Recap

Girls Seeded Recap:

The rain held off for the seeded races Saturday morning and these athletes took full advantage of it. Off the gun Carmen Alder (Pinecrest/Franklin Elite) shot straight to the lead and took full control of this race. It did not take long for her to pull away from the field. She was unoffically 2:36 at the half mile mark and already had a small lead over Angie Allen (North Lincoln/NLTC). Alder bolted through the mile with a dominating lead and it was clear she was on her A game today. Allen came through the mile mark leading the chase pack with Alder's younger sister Vanessa Alder (Pinecrest/Franklin Elite), and Carly Wilkes (Glenvar, VA).

At the halfway point Sierra Collins (Harnett Central/Harnett County TC) joined the chase pack as they separated themselves from the rest of the field. Down the straightaway Alder was continuing to dominate while the battle for 2nd was heating up. At the two mile it was a three-way race between Vanessa Alder, Wilkes, and Collins for 2nd. 

As Alder made her way around the loop for the final time it was clear that this had the chance to be a special race. Alder flew down the home straightaway and finished in 17:11, breaking the old course record by 7 seconds! Alder said after the race "I came into this race thinking 'I know this course, I've ran it lots of times,' so I wasn't really nervous, I knew what to expect, I knew what parts I've struggled on, so I was focused." This record stands for both the current version and the old version of Ivey Redmon (a lot of people even say the old course was faster).

Vanessa Alder came charging up the final hill in clear cut 2nd place and powered down the homestretch for a runner-up finish in 18:03. In a tight battle for 3rd Wilkes and Collins dueled the whole straightaway but it was Wilkes who had the final kick. Wilkes clocked 18:15 and Collins came in at 18:17. 

Kayla Werner (Pacers, VA) and Quinn Shanahan (Durham Academy) fought to the line with Werner taking 5th in 18:27 and Shanahan in 6th in 18:30. Angie Allen ends up in 7th in 18:38. The Lake Norman duo of Maddie Huecker and Madeline Stolberg finished 8th and 10th respectively. Freshman Morgan Boonshaft (Providence Day) who has been dealing with injury was 9th in 18:56. A pair of 8th graders, Allie Zealand (Pacers, VA) and Cora Altizer (Triangle XC) finished 11th and 12th respectively.