Siegel Under the Stars
The Siegel Under the Stars meet will be one of two 3200m Time Trials occurring in the Midstate this weekend. Last week at the Ed Murphey Classic, the times these athletes will be chasing were set. Landen McNair of Bartlett High School ran 9:29 and Arlington's Ann-Marie Braese ran 11:21.
The Girl's Field
There are a handful of runners that have a chance to top Braese's time starting with Bella Guillamondegui. The Harpeth Hall Junior comes in seeded with a 10:42 PR run last year at Eastern Relays. I expect this, as it is for most, to be a shake out race with her target time ranging from 11:00 to 11:10. One of the finishers close behind her is teammate and freshman Annamaria Bacchetta. As an 8th grader, Bachetta finished 3rd overall at Sanders Ferry in November and the Honeybears are returning their entire scoring five this season. If they intend to return to the top of the DII AA podium, they'll need to make a jump this season as teams that finished ahead of them (GPS, Baylor, Father Ryan) are bringing back strong contingents as well. Other top girls to watch are Siegel's Kyra Hayes, Central Magnet's Samantha Ouelette, and Hume-Fogg's Virginia Hunt and Brooktie Frogge. All are likely Top 5-10 finishers in their respectively classifications. Speaking of which, this will also be a good opportunity to see how good Hume-Fogg is as they are a primary contender for a state title in the revamped Division I AA/A Classification.
Annamaria Bacchetta ranks 4th among Freshman based on 2020 Cross Country PRs.
The Boy's Field
This could be a good opportunity for Baylor's Xian Campbell to make an early season statement to anyone who casts doubt on the 15:41 next to his name he posted at RunningLane after the state meet. After looking at his profile, he might as well be nicknamed Mr. Consistency. Over the six regular season races his times ranged from 16:11 to 16:40. That's a solid average to have and a great base of races to take you into the next season. A contingent of Siegel and Beech runners paired with the likes of Blake Yuenger (CMS) and Jacob Rutledge (Coffee Central) will likely headline the seeded race that will most definitely produce a handful of sub 10's. What interests me most about this race to see how 5th Place Siegel and 6th Place Beech will stack up against each other. Only 4 points separated the two squads at Sanders Ferry last November and if they're hoping to climb into the Top 3 this season, their pack's average will need to be tight as they don't appear (for now) to have runners that will score single digits. Always welcome to be proven wrong though.