Parry McCluer High School senior cross country runner Kebryl Chandler represented the Fighting Blues well at the Great American XC Festival on Saturday at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
The meet, set up by Nike, is comprised of the fastest high school runners in the United States.
Chandler was ranked 78th in the nation by milestat.com for this year’s returning high school cross country runners. In Saturday’s race, he placed 12th out of 100 runners in the Coros 5000M Race of Champions with a time of 15:03.35.
Reviewing the meet for Chandler, Poluikis said, “It was a great experience for him. “He was able to run against the fastest guys in the country.”
Poluikis emphasized the hope that Chandler will qualify for the Nike national meet. “The regional meet to qualify for nationals is on that course, and it’s the biggest reason we went,’ said Poluikis The top five runners from the Nike Cross Regionals Southeast Championships, scheduled for Nov. 22, will qualify for nationals.
Chandler was content with the meet, Poluikis said. “The sun came out at the start of the race, so it wasn’t perfect weather,” said Poluikis. “It was a bit muggy. Those guys are so competitive though that they are just so willing to get after it.”
The Blues plan to send their whole team to compete at the Virginia XC Showcase at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, said Poluikis. That meet will take place on Saturday, Oct. 17.
