The stomp is gone—4-A girls xc wide open
Margaret Leak, a junior runner at Mount Tabor who I profiled last week, is exactly the kind of athlete any coach would love to have. Smart, bubbly, driven, and needless to say, also talented.
During my interview with her, she reminded me of the most impressive girls cross country runner I have seen over the last 20 years — Kimberly Spano of North Mecklenburg, who graduated last spring after winning the Class 4-A state championship in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Spano’s form was unusual — she had a powerful, machine-like gait that was almost male in form. It looked unorthodox, and I remember writing that she “stomped the field,” in 2006, not only because of her 30-second margin of victory but also because, well, she appeared to stomp when she ran.
Her form made her appear larger than she really is, and frankly, I think she was intimidating to the other runners.
Leak, who finished ninth in 2007 and 19th in 2008 in the state meet, said as much about Spano.
“The one runner who I really feared, Kim Spano, is gone, so…,” Leak started.
So with Spano on to Syracuse to start her college career, some fortunate runner out there is going to win their first Class 4-A state championship when the state meets are held at Tanglewood in November.
Coach Patrick Cromwell of Mount Tabor said it’s a title that’s up for grabs.
“I think this is one of the deepest years in a long time in North Carolina,” Cromwell said. “There are lots of them. Lots of them. In Forsyth County it’s (Margaret Leak) and Kristen Henson (of Reagan) are at the elite level, but there are 20-30 girls out there on a given day can run with each other. It’s a very, very deep field.
“It’s exciting because if you finish in the top-10 this year you have accomplished a lot, I think.”
Football wise, I got to see West Forsyth and East Forsyth for the first time last Friday, and I was impressed . One thing is obvious — both are extremely well-coached.
West is 4-0, and it was easy to see why. The Titans don’t make many mistakes and they are blessed with two wonderful security blankets in wideouts Ric Thompson and Ricky Brown, a pair of tall receivers that give quarterback Patrick Midkiff the chance to throw sideline routes any time he wants with little fear of a negative play.
I was equally impressed with East. While Coach Todd Willert isn’t the kind to embrace moral victories, Willert and his staff have done a heck of a job keeping East competitive after their breakout run to the Class 4-AA semifinals last fall. East is 2-2, but could easily be 4-0 after narrowly losing to Mount Tabor and West over the past two weeks.
My hat is off to Willert and Coach Adrian Snow of West. They know what they are doing, and the players are benefitting.
Kudos to Mount Airy and Reynolds, two teams that by preseason prognostication, wouldn’t have been 4-0 if I were a betting man. Mount Airy has run a gauntlet of an early season schedule and dismantled Class 3-A Monroe Parkwood 47-22 on the road last week to move to 4-0. Reynolds move to 4-0 last Friday was equally impressive. The Demons hammered Carver 49-14, AT CARVER! It’s been a long time since Carver has been treated like that in Lash Stadium (aka, The Hive).