Welcome to the 2012 Great American Cross Country Festival

We again return to Cary, NC for the 2012 edition of the Great American Cross Country Festival. The meet was held at SAS Soccer Park (now WakeMed Soccer Park) from 2003 through 2005, and again for the past three years. As for the past three years, the meet has grown significantly even with a conflict with the SAT exam and Jewish holidays.

Cary is an exciting venue. The course is well seasoned, and some call it one of the best courses in the country. The involvement of the Town of Cary and the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau has been spectacular. We hope you can join us in 2012.

Please note that, because of ongoing sanctioning issues, the high school division is open only to those schools who are members of their respective high school state associations and can compete in their state's primary state high school cross country championship. We welcome all of you and all college athletes as well, including those from HBCU schools.

2012 Race in Review

What a meet!

It may rank as one of the best ones yet.

We had record numbers with over 3400 athletes, almost 1000 more than in 2011. And slightly more than our previous "record" of just under 3400 in 2003.

There were 150 schools from 19 states.

Despite the torrential rains on Friday night and early Saturday morning, the course held up well, and there were some incredibly fast times. And this with "off and on" drizzle and downpour throughout the day.

Christian Brothers Academy (Lincroft), NJ showed why they are the best boys' team in the country, scoring only 60 points averaging 15:24 per man! Highly rated St. Xavier (Louisville, KY) and Cardinal O'Hara (Springfield, PA) scored 148 and 161 points, respectively for 2nd and 3rd.

The boys demolished the meet record as the top 5 made it into the all-time course top 10, with the first three becoming the top 3 all-time. Kevin Mc Gorty (Chantilly, VA) won an exciting stretch run over Jacob Thomson (Holy Cross, Louisville, KY) with Mc Gorty running 14:13.6, only .3 over Thomson. Twenty-four boys "cracked" 15:30 and put themselves on the top 90 course list.

For the girls, highly ranked Assumption (Louisville, KY) handed Saratoga Springs (NY) its first loss ever in Cary, with Assumption over the Kranick-coached NY squad, 88 to 136. Perennial national power Tatnall (Wilmington, DE) was a close third at 142.

Individual winner Maggie Drazba (St. Mary's, WV) held off soph Hannah Long (Eureka, MO) to win the individual title, 17:37.9 to 17:30.0. Twenty-one girls put themselves in the top 90 all-time course list of those running 18:06 or better.

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