Category: Professional

By David Rogers. WILMINGTON, N.C. — A minute and 46 seconds may not sound like a lot time but when it is the difference between the winner and runner up in a half marathon, it may seem like an eternity while waiting for that second place finisher to cross the the line.

Blowing Rock’s Annmarie Tuxbury won the Run Wilmington Half Marathon on Feb. 25, crossing the finish line in one hour, 14 minutes and 42 seconds (1:14:42.1), well ahead of second place runner Katie Baska of Knoxville, Tenn. (1:16:28.5) and third place finisher Laura Zenger (1:18:52.2) of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Tuxbury finished No. 13 overall among the almost 2,000 athletes competing in the half marathon. Wrightsville Beach-based Robinson Snider was first overall with a time of 1:06:33.0.

Tuxbury, a member of the ZAP Endurance elite professional running team based in Blowing Rock, picked up her pace in the second half of Saturday’s race. At the halfway point (6.5 miles), her mile pace was 5:44, but for the full race her mile pace was 5:42.

Tuxbury’s win is just the latest of top performances by ZAP runners, including Andrew Colley, Tyler Pennel, Ryan Ford, Tristin Van Ord, and Dan Schaffer.

By Joey Jones for App State Sports. BOONE, N.C. — USFL teams selected two App State Football alums in the first two rounds of the league’s 2023 draft on Tuesday, as the Houston Gamblers used the No. 3 overall pick on quarterback Chase Brice and the Philadelphia Stars took offensive tackle Anderson Hardy in the second round with the 13th overall pick.

In just two years at App State, Brice put up some of the best career totals in program history, ranking No. 1 in passing yards per game (240.7), No. 5 in touchdown passes (54) and No. 6 in passing yards (6,258).

Brice threw 27 touchdown passes (No. 1 in the Sun Belt) and just six interceptions during a 2022 season in which he passed for 2,921 yards (243.4 per game) and completed 62.8 percent of his attempts.

Hardy had the third-best overall blocking grade and fourth-best run-blocking grade among starting offensive tackles in the Sun Belt, according to PFF. Protecting Brice’s blind side, Hardy allowed just two quarterback sacks while totaling 849 snaps, including 432 pass-blocking snaps.

He started the final 28 games of his App State career and was named a first-team All-Sun Belt selection.

By David Rogers. BATHURST, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA — With a thunder and lightening storm looming on the horizon, athletes from Uganda electrified the crowd on Feb. 18, taking the gold and silver medals in the Senior Men division of the World Cross Country Championship.

Organizers barely got that final event in before the storm swept through the infield of the Mount Panorama motor racing track that was host to the two-kilometer loop where the World XC Championships were staged.

In fact, according to ZAP Endurance head coach Pete Rea, as the main body of top runners was crossing the finish line, one by one, the race organizers were ushering the laggards off the course because of the approaching lightening.

Blowing Rock’s Andrew Colley was the third USA team member to complete the five laps of the the Senior Men race, at No. 36 (31:44), behind Sam Chelanga (No. 21, 31:04) and Emmanuel Bor (No. 32, 31:37). Teammate Anthony Rotich completed the scoring quartet for the USA, crossing the line at No. 45 (32:11). The four American athletes’ performance meant that the USA earned sixth place in the team competition.

Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo surged past teammate and defending champion Joshua Cheptegei, Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor and Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi roughly a third of the way into the final of the five laps and distanced himself from there and leaving it to others to sort out the order of the runners up. Kiplimo took gold with a time of 29:17. While Kamworor was among the leaders for the entire race, Aregawi surprised the field late to take the silver medal in 29:26. Cheptegei outlasted Kamworor to claim the bronze in 29:37, with Kamworor a fraction of a second behind.

The World Cross Country Championships included five races, a Mixed Relay (two men and two women from each country), Under20 Women, Under20 Men, Senior Women, and Senior Men. Each race traversed the same 2-kilometer course, although the number of laps were different for each division. The course had some interesting features, specially crafted, including The Chicane, The Boomerang, Through The Vines (AKA “The Vineyard”), Bondi Beach and The Billabong, each with their own special elements.

Arguably the most onerous is the challenge of Bondi Beach, basically a sand pit, and The Boomerang, with a long uphill ascent, but not only the messiest but perhaps the most dangerous is The Billabong, a long mud pit. While there were no crocodiles such as frequent a good number of natural billabongs, we did see a couple of athletes lose their footing and fall into the muck as they entered.

One of the uniquely Australian sights seen by ZAP Endurance head coach Pete Rea was a kangaroo looking about at all of the commotion in its natural habitat.

With temperatures hovering near 95 degrees and 50 percent humidity, the Mixed Relay saw Kenya get the day’s first gold medal, with Ethiopia and Australia taking silver and bronze, respectively. The U.S. team finished No. 5 from among the 15 countries with at least four runners to comprise a team.

In the Under20 Women’s race, two Ethiopian athletes took gold and silver, while Kenya claimed bronze. The USA’s Ellie Shea (No. 10), Irene Riggs (No. 12), and Karrie Baloga (No. 13) were in the hunt and led the American team to a team bronze medal. The fourth scorer for the USA was Zariel Macchia at No. 19, putting all four in the top 20 among the more than 60 entries.

In the Under20 Men’s race, the African nations again dominated. The top 15 places were held by Kenya, Ethiopia, or Uganda athletes. The USA’s Emilio Young was the first non-African athlete across the finish line, at No. 16, leading the American team to a bronze medal as a team.

 

High Drama at the Finish for the Senior Women

In one of the most unusual finishes perhaps in the history of the World Cross Country Championships, held since 1973, Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet and Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey ran in a pack of five leaders for at good part of the race, then began to separate themselves with one lap to to, with Chebet seeming to try and break away. But Gidey stayed right with the Kenyan, took a quick look at her watch, and started to drive for the lead.

Gidey surged decisively into the lead on the uphill portion of the final lap leading to what is called The Boomerang section, and appeared to take command. She kept expanding her lead over Chebet, who looked like she was going to settle for the silver medal as she put more distance on the third and fourth runners.

Gidey, who had won the Under20 race at the World Championships twice before, stretched her lead over Chebet to almost five seconds and what was estimated at 50 yards as she descended down a long, downhill straightway before making a nimble 180-degree right turn and entered a section called, “The Chicane.” Weaving her way between the alternating twelve rows of tires, Gidey looked almost fresh as she started the last uphill climb. Once to the top, the course makes two 90-degree left turns and onto a long straightaway downhill to the finish.

Toward the top of the uphill, Chebet accelerated and closed the gap slightly as Gidey made her first, then second 90-degree turns. Looking over her shoulder one last time, Gidey still seemed to have the race under control, one-third of the way down the finishing stretch.

Suddenly, Chebet was seen flying down the homestretch and as she appeared ready to overtake Gidey with only some 50 feet left before the finish, the Ethiopian suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground — and laid there as Chebet sprinted on by to claim gold. Then, with Gidey still lying on the ground, Ethiopian teammate Tsigie Gebreselama and Kenya ‘s Agnes Janet Ngetich raced on by to capture silver and bronze. Gidey remained prostrate on the ground until two bystanders sprinted onto the course to pick her up, allowing her to be the fourth athlete to cross the finish line, but she was later disqualified for having received the assistance.

By David Rogers. BATHURST, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA — Crocodile Dundee will not be around on Feb. 18 in New South Wales, Australia, to save any of the nearly 800 male and female elite running athletes from around the world who might fall into a reptile-infested billabong during the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst. And while the event organizers may only be having a bit of fun with their crocodile signs, the early comments among the competitors is that Bathurst will be the “toughest” course many of them have faced.

Counting an Athlete Refugee Team, nearly 50 nations have sent runners to compete in the senior men, senior women, under 20 men, under 20 women, and mixed relay events. In addition to Australia and the USA, there are teams from almost every continent. The countries represented include Uganda, South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia from Africa; Great Britain and Spain from Europe; Japan, Fiji, and China from Asia; Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the USA from North and South America and several others from around the world.

Blowing Rock and the High Country are represented in what will arguably be the fastest race of the day: the Senior Men’s Division. ZAP Endurance team member Andrew Colley was the second fastest qualifier for the U.S. team last month in Richmond, so will be one of the six American men running in the event. Colley finished just four seconds behind Emmanuel Bor, who competed collegiately for the University of Alabama and now represents the U.S. Army.

“This is a tough course,” ZAP Endurance head coach Pete Rea reported to High Country Sports by telephone on Feb. 17, the day before the event, as he and Colley surveyed the course. “The elevation change is only about 190 feet, but the race directors were told by World Athletics to ‘make it tough’ and they followed through on that request for this two-kilometer circuit. If you grew up on a farm running on pasture land, you will be right at home because much of the course is uneven.”

Set in the middle of Bathurst’s Mount Panorama motor racing track, the 2-kilometer circuit is fast, but hard, too. According to Rea, there is an 11 percent climb at one point, in addition to what amounts to a mud pit and some 50 meters of amounts to a sand pit. Anyone who has tried running on the beach, off the water’s edge, will know what that is like.

“I am pretty sure the course will live up to its billing as being a tough course,” said Rea.

According to the 2023 World Cross Country Championships event program information, more than 12,000 athletes from 175 countries have competed in the event over the years, with five countries having competed in all 43 events. Those five include France, Great Britain/Northern Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the United States. The largest event was in 2000, when the event was hosted in Vilamoura, Portugal, with 806 athletes from 76 countries.

Other event notes:

• The most medals won by an individual country is 320 by Kenya, followed by Ethiopia’s 271 and 63 by the U.S.
• Kenya has won at least one gold medal in ever event since 1986.
• The closest finish was in the 1973 senior men’s race when Pekka Paivarenta of Finland finished just one-tenth of a second ahead of Spain’s Mariano Haro.
• Sweeps of all four individual titles have been by Kenya in 1994 and 2010, as well as by Ethiopia in 2008.
• The youngest ever competitor is Su Su-Ning of Chinese Taipei, who was 12 years old when she placed 119th in the 1991 Under 20 women’s race. Current regulations prevent anyone younger than 16 from competing.
• The oldest champion and medalist is New Zealand’s Jack Foster in 1975, when he was 42 years, 297 days old.
• The World Cross Country Championships have been hosted in a variety of countries since first staged in Belgium, in 1973. They include stops  in Italy, Great Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, the U.S., China, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland, New Zealand, Norway, Hungary, South Africa, Japan, Kenya, Uganda, and Denmark — and some countries multiple times.

The Senior Men’s race in which Colley is scheduled to run is set for 1 p.m. on Feb. 18, in Australia, which if our calculations are correct, is approximately 9:00 p.m. on Feb. 17 in North Carolina.

The World Athletics website suggests that the race may be watched on CNBC and Peacock, or livestreamed on the World Athletics YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/worldathletics.

 

 

 

 

By David Rogers. BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — With a small-town population of around 1,300 full-time residents, Blowing Rock might not be the first place you think of to find nine world class running athletes at the top of their game. Then again, relatively few places — at least on the East Coast of the U.S. — are home to elite professional running teams like ZAP Endurance, training at modestly high altitude in a scenic environment with often challenging mountain trails.

In the 20-plus years that ZAP has been operational since its founding by former elite marathoner Zika Rea and her late husband Andy Palmer, the ZAP team has had several noteworthy performances. That includes Andrew Colley’s earning a spot on the U.S. team to the World Cross Country Championships in 2015, staged in China — and again this year, headed next week to the World championships hosted in New South Wales, Australia.

That ZAP history also includes Tyler Pennel’s finish just off the podium in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials – Marathon, in Los Angeles. He earned global headlines for leading the race from Mile 13 to Mile 19, then hung on to finish 5th among the nation’s top 300 male marathon athletes, a race won by Nike sensation Galen Rupp. And the ZAP team had six marathoners who qualified to run in the men’s and women’s Trials. On a per capita basis, Blowing Rock and the High Country likely had more runners in that 2016 Olympic Trials marathon event than any other municipality in the country.

Just wait for ZAP’s 2024 encore, when as many as eight team members may have qualified to compete in the Trials, even with the U.S. Olympic Committee tightening the eligibility standards.

Since its founding, zap endurance qualified 54 team members for the olympic trials in events from 1500 meters to the marathon. 

Over the years since the club’s founding in Blowing Rock, the ZAP Endurance team won the title as the top professional cross country club in the nation: 2006, 2007, 2011, and 2014. In two of those years, a ZAP man won the national cross country championship race, including current ZAP assistant coach Ryan Warrenburg (2007) and David Jankowski (2011).

That is just a sampling of ZAP’s best historic performances. There are others. Fast forward to 2023 and the High Country based team has never been stronger.

Consider:

• • ANDREW COLLEY: After an injury-plagued mid-career, Colley is returning to the World Cross Country Championships. He earned a spot on the U.S. team last month, placing second in the Richmond, Va., hosted U.S. Cross Country Championships. Only six Americans represent the USA in the Worlds, which is only held once every four years. On Feb. 18, the USA team will be running in the World Cross Country Championships, hosted this year by Bathurst, in New South Wales, Australia. Colley is a rare combination of both speed and endurance. According to World Athletics, in 2017 he covered the Sacramento U.S. Marathon Championships course in 2:15.27, placing 16th. Three years earlier, he ran 3:59.34 for the Mile at the Greenville Blue Shoes Track Invitational, placing 5th. This comes after a stellar career running for North Carolina State University where he earned multiple “All American” honors in both track and cross country at various distances. He will be looking to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon after the World XC Championships.

• 

  • TRISTIN VAN ORD: As assistant men’s cross country coach at Appalachian State, when Tristin Van Ord speaks, the guys are likely to listen. A highly decorated collegian while competing for App State just a few years ago, the 2:27:07 she ran last month for the Chevron Houston Marathon not only lowered her personal record by some two and a half minutes — set just eight months earlier in Rotterdam, The Netherlands — but made her the 10th fastest American woman among those currently running the 26.2 mile distance. It also qualifies her to compete for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team in the next U.S. Olympic Trials at that distance, which will be run in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 3, 2024.
  • RYAN FORD: One of the newest members of the ZAP Endurance team, Ryan Ford quickly gained notice in the running world when he finished 12th in the same U.S. Cross Country Championships in Richmond, Va. on Jan. 21, the same even where Colley finished second and qualified for the national team — and Ford was the youngest competitor in the top 12 by roughly two years. Only six days earlier, on Jan. 15, Ford won the 3,000 meters event at the Virginia Tech Invitational vs. a strong field of top collegiate and professional runners. The latest? On Feb. 11, Ford placed second in the 5,000 meters at the Valentine Invitational in Boston against a strong professional and collegiate field.  In running a 13:29.96, he was just half a second behind the leader. In recording his first time for the 5,000m under 13:30, he took a full five seconds off of his personal best.
  • DAN SCHAFFER: Running a sub 4-minute mile remains a significant accomplishment and Dan Schaffer, another new ZAP team member. has done it both outdoors and indoors. Last month, he ran a 3:59.6 to win the featured Mile race at the Hokie Invitational in Blacksburg, Va., against some of the nation’s top collegians and professional runners. He followed that up with a second place finish at 3,000 meters, in a time of 7:43:47 at the Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge in New York City, less than a second and a half out of first place. The performance lowered his personal best at 3,000 meters indoors by seven seconds, set a new ZAP club record for the distance, and qualified him for his first senior national championship event, the U.S. Indoor Championships on Feb. 18, in Albuquerque, N.M.

• 

  • TYLER PENNEL: To say that Tyler Pennel burst onto the national stage in 2014, when he ran away from the field to win the U.S. Marathon Championships in the Twin Cities (Minn.) wouldn’t quite be accurate since he had already started getting attention as a collegian, winning the NCAA Division II 10,000 meters title in 2012 while representing Western State College (now Western Colorado University) of Gunnison, Colo. Early in his tenure with ZAP, he also rattled off a 3:58 for the Mile, 13:32 for 5K, and 28.22 for the 10K. Since winning at Twin Cities, he has maintained a spot among the top American marathon athletes. After his 5th place finish at the Los Angeles hosted U.S. Olympic Trials, he followed up with an 8th place run in the 2016 New York City Marathon and a 4th place at the 2018 Boston Marathon. In 2020, as COVID-19 was just beginning to engage the world, Pennel finish 11th in the Atlanta Olympic Trials with a personal best of 2:12.34. That “PR” didn’t last long, however. Last month, on Jan. 15, 2023, he ran a 2:12:16 in the Chevron Houston Marathon on a muggy day in south Texas. The run lowered his PR as he place 5th and met the qualifying standard for the next U.S. Olympic Trials, in Orlando, on Feb. 23, 2024.
  • JOSH IZEWSKI:  A former star performer at the University of Florida in track and field, at 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m distances, Josh Izewski took five years off after college to compete as a professional triathlete. In 2018, ZAP’s Tyler Pennel “discovered” Izewski as a potential teammate when he beat Pennel in a 10-mile road race. A short while later, ZAP welcomed him onto the team and the Florida alum quickly started recording faster and faster times. In the distance running world, Izewski has the potential to be a speed demon after running 1500 meters in 3:54 as a collegian, in a 2013 Tallahassee race. After returning to the track and joining the ZAP team, he has begun to focus more and more on the longer distances, including the marathon. As soon as the qualifying window opened up in January of 2022 (for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials), Izewski ran a 2:12.45 at the 2022 Houston Marathon, well below the U.S. qualifying standard of 2:18 for the men. He is currently taking about five months off (training only) after a full schedule of racing in 2022, ending with a 10 mile road race in the Twin Cities last October, where he lowered his own personal record for that distance by some 20 seconds. The big push now? He and Pennel are focused on qualifying for the Olympic Trials, aimed at competing in the Berlin Marathon to better the 2:18 qualifying standard in September.
  • ANNMARIE TUXBURY: ZAP Endurance head coach Pete Rea says that Annmarie Tuxbury is his “diamond in the rough.”  A native of New Hartford, Conn. and 2016 graduate of Bryant University in Rhode Island, where she is 4th on the program’s all-time list for 1,000 meters, 7th in the Mile, 3rd at 3,000 meters, and 2nd at 5,000 meters. She is also on three of the school’s Top 10 teams in the Distance Medley Relay. After leaving school, she began transitioning to longer distance running. She ran in the Atlanta Marathon in late February 2020, posting a time of 2:39. In May of 2021 she finished 7th at the US 25k Championships in Grand Rapids, Mich., and followed that up in the fall of 2021 with another top 10 US Championship finish, a 10th place showing at the U.S. 20k Championships.  In 2022, Tuxbury ran 2:38 at the Boston Marathon and turned around six weeks later to run 2:39 and take the win at the Vermont City Marathon. Now 28, the former middle distance runner ran the Boston Marathon in April 2022, the 23rd woman to cross the finish line and lowered her personal best to 2:38.15. Then, just a month after joining ZAP, in December 2022 she finished 12th among 3,421 women competing in the U.S. Marathon Championships in Sacramento, Calif, where Tuxbury lowered her personal best by some 7 minutes, to 2:31:29. While Tuxbury has already qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials with her 2:31 (the standard is 2:37), she is currently training for the Rotterdam Marathon on April 16.

• 

  • WHITNEY MACON: Whitney Macon, a native of Asheville who was part of a University of New Mexico championship cross country team, has also already qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon, running a 2:32:48 at the Rotterdam Marathon in April 2022. Along with Tuxbury, Macon is training for the Rotterdam Marathon in April 2023. She is a 2015 graduate of Harvard University and spent her last year of eligibility as a graduate student at New Mexico. At the Atlanta U.S. Olympic Trials in 2020, Macon finished 40th, in 2:39:40, among the 390 women who had qualified for the Trials race, all competing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team.
  • ERIC VAN DER ELS: The ninth and final athlete being supported on the ZAP team is Eric Van Der Els, a recent graduate of the University of Connecticut where he was a top performer in cross country as well as on the track. While his debut with ZAP has been cut short by a foot injury, Van Der Els has a lot of upside as a middle distance runner. In May of 2022, he finished in 1st place of the Big East Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at 1500 meters, running the distance in 3:46.64 to win the final after being a tick faster in the preliminaries, 3:46.63. At the elite Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge in February 2022, Van Der Els finished first in the 3,000 meters. Just out of high school, Van Der Els showed his potential in running a 3:43.16 at 1500 meters to capture first place in the Pan American Under 20 Championships in Trujillo, Peru, in 2017. Once he returns from the foot injury, Van Der Els is expected to compete in distances ranging from 3,000 meters to 10,000 meters. In his pro debut with ZAP, he placed 10th in the USA Track & Field 5k Championships in and around New York City’s Central Park, in early November. Only 32 pro athletes had qualified to run in the race.

• 

By David Rogers. CHARLOTTE, N.C. — While the sentimental favorite as the next Carolina Panthers head coach might well have been Steve Wilks (after leading the team to a near-berth in the NFL playoffs upon taking the reins during a chaotic mid-season), the Frank Reich hire makes a lot of sense — and on a couple of different levels.

First, Reich is an offensive minded head coach who knows the team needs stability at the quarterback position. He said as much during the Jan. 31 press conference introducing him to Charlotte and the Carolinas. He promised a strong partnership with general manager Scott Fitterer and owner David Tepper in “creating a blueprint and a plan, then executing it” as they look toward the long-term needs at the QB and other positions.

Second, Reich brings a connection with Carolina’s franchise past. In 1995, Reich was introduced as Carolina’s first quarterback, after some 10 years with the Buffalo Bills. He threw the franchise’s first touchdown pass, to tight end Pete Metzelaars, who also had joined the new franchise after playing in Buffalo. In 2023, Reich was introduced as the franchise’s sixth head coach.

Underlining the significance of Reich’s signing as the new Panthers mentor, Metzelaars was on hand at the introductory press conference, sitting in the front row alongside other players from the 1995 team. Several current team members were also on hand and Reich said he looked forward to meeting with each member of the current roster, one on one.

“For us as a family,” Reich told the large crowd gathered for the occasion in the Bank of America “Red Zone” lounge area, “this place has always been special. To think that we are here now and having the opportunity to be the head coach of the Panthers, it is a tremendous privilege, honor, responsibility… I am just excited to get to work.”

Reich brought chuckles to the crowd when asked to recall that first year with the franchise in 1995, telling about the camaraderie developed among the guys — without sharing details — when they had to take bus trips from Charlotte to where they played home games at Clemson University because the construction of Bank of America Stadium had not yet been completed.

In five seasons as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, Reich compiled a 40-33-1 record.

“Relationships have to be right and (owner) Mr. Tepper has a commitment to excellence,” said Reich, in speaking with the media.

Reich grew up in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, playing football (QB), baseball and basketball.  He was accepted at the University of Maryland on a football scholarship. As a quarterback, he always seemed to find a role as a backup, first to Boomer Esiason for three years at Maryland, then to Stan Gelbaugh after Reich suffered a shoulder separation the fourth week of the 1984 season, against Wake Forest. But against Miami that year, Reich came off the bench to lead the Terrapins to a thrilling, 42-40 win after the Bernie Kosar-led Hurricanes took a 31-0 lead into halftime.

Selected by the Buffalo Bills in the third round of the 1985 NFL Draft, Reich quickly found himself in another backup role, this time behind future Hall of Fame quarterback, Jim Kelly. Reich nonetheless had several key performances when Kelly was out with an injury, perhaps none more thrilling than the 1993 “wild card” playoff game when the Bills faced the then Houston Oilers. He helped rally the Bills from a 32-point deficit en route to a 41-38 overtime win.

After beginning the Panthers’ inaugural 1995 season as the starting QB, Reich ceded the job to the QB the Panthers had drafted as their expected franchise quarterback, Kerry Collins, who the team had selected fifth overall in the 1995 NFL Draft. After being relegated once again to a backup role, Reich moved on to the New York Jets in 1996, then to the Detroit Lions in 1997. He retired after the 1998 season.

In an NFL Network piece in 2014, “Caught in the Draft: 1985,” Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian described Reich as “… the greatest backup quarterback in NFL history.”

History has documented that the best coaches are not always a game’s once star players, but more often its backups, who try harder and learn more about the intricacies of competition in the process. The Carolina Panthers and owner David Tepper may just have found their guy in Frank Reich.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — At first glance, it may seem irrelevant for a sports-focused publication to have a report on economic circumstances, but from the cost of officiating crews to the cost of team transportation expenses, the cost of admission tickets to games and much more, the economy means a lot to sports and its competitions. That’s why High Country Sports was eager to attend the 2023 Economic Kickoff Luncheon on Jan. 19, produced jointly by the Blowing Rock and Boone Area chambers of commerce and hosted at the Grandview Ballroom in App State’s North End Zone Building.

Besides, with “kickoff” in the title of the event and the venue overlooking the region’s premier athletic facility, it certainly sounds sporting. More than 300 local business, civic and government leaders were in attendance and reveled in the food and information.

Nationwide, housing is already in a recession and softness may be just around the corner for the rest of the economy. Those were among the conclusions of North Carolina economist and professor at Appalachian State, Dr. Harry Davis.

Davis noted that since World War II the U.S. has seen 12 recessions with an average duration of about 10 months. He reported that in 2022, the economy grew about two percent, maybe as much as 2.5 percent when the numbers finally come out for the fourth quarter. He suggested that is pretty good performance as a follow-up to the post-COVID-19 growth of 5.7 percent in 2021, which he reported was the best annual growth rate in 40 years.

The longtime economist for the North Carolina Bankers Association said there have only been two real outliers since WWII in terms of the length of a recession, reminding listeners of the 1973-75 recession and what he termed, “the 2008 Great Recession.”

Davis expects the next recession to begin toward the end of 2023 and be relatively mild but, he said, North Carolina should be fairly well insulated because of the state’s strong business climate, population growth, and because the state government has what he termed a “rainy day fund” that will allow the government to operate without significant budget cutbacks.

One of the more interesting tidbits of Davis’ report was that some 350,000 factory jobs will be “reshored” to the U.S. because higher labor costs in China and other countries, as well as higher transportation costs are making offshore manufacturing less attractive to U.S. companies. He stated that he is already aware of both textile and furniture companies in North Carolina bringing operations home, as well as new startups in those industries.

Davis opened some eyes among the small business owners in the audience when he stated that the government is no longer setting the minimum wage for U.S. workers.

“The federal minimum wage rate is at $7.25 per hour, but businesses are not going to wait around for Congress to do anything, so they just do it themselves. Walmart, Amazon, Starbucks, Target and other big companies are now setting the minimum wage,” he said, adding that small businesses are going to have to follow suit in order to recruit and retain employees, even if it is a harsh reality.

Davis’ analysis included a note that, nationwide, there is a shortage of some 5 million housing units.

“What does that mean if you own a house? It means that every night while you are watching TV your house is going up in value four or five hundred bucks a day! Where else could that happen but in this country,” he said. “There is almost no way you can lose money in real estate, in any market, provided you are going to be in there for awhile because there is such a dearth of supply.”

Largely because of rising construction costs, Davis said that housing starts fell about 25 percent, the first decline in housing starts since 2009.

Davis suggested that with an unemployment rate, nationwide, of 3.5 percent, “We can’t be in a recession. If that is a recession, let’s stay in a recession!”

He reported that last year the U.S. created 4.5 million new jobs, the second most in history. The most was in 2021: 6.1 million new jobs. He added that there are about 10.5 million unfilled jobs in the U.S, saying that the number has “bounced around” between 10 million and 11 million ever since the pandemic.

Davis pointed out that the labor participation rate continues to decline, mostly, because many of the Baby Boomers are getting out of the labor force with retirement. Another factor, he said, is that the costs of child care and elder care are skyrocketing, implying that one or the other of previously employed parents are finding it more attractive to stay home.

Dr. Davis noted that the inflation rate is coming down, now to about 6 percent after reaching 9 percent last year. He added that inflation rates of food costs and housing rents remain stubbornly higher, but are still edging down now.

In 2021, Davis said, the Federal Reserve pumped a lot of money into the economy to provide liquidity. “They pushed the pedal to the metal and I think they overdid it,” said Davis. “Then they took their foot off the gas and pushed the brake to the metal. They went from one extreme to the other extreme and that is where we are today. I think they are close to finishing. I wish they would stop raising rates altogether.”

Turning to Watauga County and North Carolina, Davis reported that North Carolina remains stronger than most of the rest of the country because of the tremendous population growth the state has seen. He stated that a net of approximately 900,000 people were added to the population between the 2010 census and the 2020 census.

“It is not because of birth rates,” Davis said, “but because people are immigrating to North Carolina.”

He did point out the unevenness of population growth in the state, which has 50 chartered counties.

“Fifty counties lost population during that time and 50 counties gained,” said Davis. “Unfortunately, the 50 counties that lost population were the 50 counties with the least amount of population to begin with.”

He concluded that the disparity between rural and urban areas only gets worse every year.

Davis reported that in everybody’s ratings, North Carolina is in the “top 5” states for business and some have even rated NC as No. 1. He offered the reasons as low taxes (corporate and individual), a great education system with good community colleges, and the state pension plan is around 86 percent funded. “We also have a great rainy day fund with hundreds of millions of dollars in it,” Davis said. “We can withstand a recession much better now than we could in 2008.”

Davis added that the state is also starting to get “mega deals” of more than one billion dollars in corporate investments.

“With these businesses coming, they are going to need workers,” Davis pointed out. “Our biggest problem is going to be turning out workers with the correct skills to match up with those businesses. We need the educational system to look toward what these new businesses will need.”

Watauga County is the only county among the nine contiguous counties that is seeing meaningful population growth, Davis said. “Only one other of those counties has seen population growth in the last 10 years, and it grew by nine people. Everybody else is losing population in this corner of the state, so we are very lucky to have what we’ve got.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

By David Rogers. MECHANICSVILLE, Va. — Blowing Rock’s On/ZAP Endurance head coach Pete Rea started looking for a ride to New South Wales, Australia on Jan. 21. That’s because one of his veteran team members, Andrew Colley, placed second in USA Track & Field’s National Cross Country Championships staged at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Va., near Richmond — and just four seconds behind unattached Colorado athlete, Emmanuel Bor.

The top six finishers qualify to represent the United States in the 2023 World Cross Country Championships, scheduled for Feb. 18 in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, northwest of Sydney.

At the start, 103 of America’s most elite distance runners launched themselves onto the course, several unattached but others representing professional race teams with shoe company sponsors like On/ZAP Endurance, as well as teams from branches of the U.S. military services. various colleges and universities, and city-based running teams.

The list of military services included U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps., and the U.S. Navy. Colleges and universities represented included the likes of Oklahoma State, Villanova, Minnesota, Elon and College of Charleston. Shoe company and athletic apparel teams, in addition to the On/ZAP Endurance entries, include Nike, Under Armour, Saucony, addidas, Brooks and ASICS. A number of city-based track and running clubs were also represented from states all across the country.

On/ZAP Endurance was also represented in Mechanicsville by Ryan Ford, who finished 12th in the 10,000 meter race, among the nation’s most elite harriers.

“The course in Pole Green Park is very interesting,” said Rea in speaking with High Country Sports after the race. “It is a 2k circuit and the competitors go around five times to make their 10k distance. It is relatively flat, with little in the way of elevation changes. Nice course, really.”

For Colley, the Jan. 21 race was a homecoming of sorts. He grew up in historic Williamsburg, Va., roughly 50 miles east of Mechanicsville, so among the Saturday spectators were a large number of Colley family members, childhood friends, and other well-wishers.

For most of the 10k distance, there was a lead pack of some two dozen runners within 10 seconds of each other. Bor took the lead at 3k and kept it to the finish, although a host of runners were always within shouting distance.

At the 1k marker, Colley and Ford were running side by side, tied for 9th place in the lead pack with Bor and Anthony Rotich (Nike/U.S. Army) and Thomas Slattery (U.S. Coast Guard). They were less than three seconds off the leader, Reid Buchanan, an unattached runner from California. Among the leaders, in third place at that point, was distance running veteran Jared Ward, a member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic team in the marathon after placing third in Los Angeles. Ward was running for the Saucony shoe company.

At the 2k mark, the leaders had shuffled around a bit, but there were still 41 athletes inside five seconds of the pack leader, Kirubel Erassa, an unattached entry from Indiana. All-Army team members were in 2nd place and tied for 4th, while ZAP’s Ford moved up a couple of places to 6th, tied with Bor, and Colley crossed the line in 15th, but still within just one second of the front.

As the runners crossed the 3k mark, Bor took the lead with still 102 athletes in the running. Colley was less than two seconds back, in 6th, while Ford dropped to 12th. He was still just 2.2 seconds behind the leader.

Bor still led at 4k, but distance running veteran Sam Chelanga of the All-Army team had moved into second place, nipping at Bor’s heels. Colley was only a second and half back, in 7th, while Ford was in 13th, still just over three seconds behind first place.

At the 5k halfway point, 102 runners were still on the course, with only 31 still in any kind of realistic contention some 37 seconds behind Bor. Another All-Army team member, Leonard Korir had moved into second place but was now 2.7 seconds behind Bor and leading a pack within five seconds of Bor. That pack included Colley in 7th and Ford, in 13th.

When the runners reached 6k, Bor had increased his lead to more than five seconds ahead of second place, now held by his younger brother Hillary Bor. Both are Kenyan-born but attended American universities, Emmanuel competing for University of Alabama and Hillary for Iowa State. At this point in the race, Colley was just one second behind Hillary Bor, in 9th, and Ford was still in the hunt, at No. 13.

At 7k, the Bor brothers still headed the field with Emmanuel now 11 seconds ahead of his brother. Nike/U.S. Army’s Rotich had moved back up the leaderboard and Colley was tied with Rotich and unattached Utah runner Dillon Maggard in third. Ford was less than a second further back, tied for 10th with Chelanga, who had also slipped back but still a member of the lead pack.

At 8k, Colley edged ahead of Hillary Bor and the Army’s Korir into second place, but now 12 seconds behind Emmanuel Bor. Ford four seconds slower at this point, by himself at No. 11. Newcomers among the leaders were Abbabiya Simbassa (7th), representing Under Armour, and Zachery Panning (9th) of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project.

Between the 8k and 9k marks, Colley ran a blistering 2:52.2 leg and began to reel in the older Bor brother. Colley’s effort allowed him to slip into second place for the first time, narrowing the deficit to just under 8 seconds. Ford stayed at No. 11, but did not keep up with the lead group. At this point he was 20 seconds off the lead pace, but almost five seconds ahead of the 12th place runner.

As if Colley’s next to last 1,000 meters, between 8k and 9k, was not fast enough, the veteran ZAP runner gained another five seconds on the leader, covering the last 1,000 meters in 2:40.5 to finish the race as the runner-up and a full second ahead of Rotich (No. 3) and Korir (No. 4).

The now 31-yearold Colley was a highly decorated high school (Jamestown High School, Williamsburg, Va.) and collegiate track and cross country athlete competing for North Carolina State University. At NC State, he was a 3-time All-American in cross country (2011, 2012, and 2013) and the Atlantic Coast Conference “Performer of the Year” in both 2012 and 2013. In track, he was a 4-time All-American focused on running at the 5,000 meters’ distance.

He seemed destined for good things after joining the ZAP team and earning a spot on the 2015 U.S. team competing in the World Cross Country Championships in Guiyang, China, but a string of injuries followed. He is now the healthiest he has been in more than five years and, he said in a post-race interview that he now has had a good six months of solid training leading up to the Jan. 21 race.

“I am really proud of Andrew,” Rea shared with High Country Sports. “He is not just very talented, but has endured a lot and worked hard to overcome those challenges. He is a terrific team guy and will prove to be a great resource for the growing number of younger athletes competing for ZAP Endurance.”

 

 

By David Rogers. BLACKSBURG, Va. — His time was roughly two seconds slower than his personal best of a year ago, but ZAP Endurance team member Dan Schaffer’s time of 3:59.60 was the fastest of a fast field on Jan. 20 in the 1 Mile Run event of the Hokie Invitational.

Schaffer’s personal best at the distance indoors is a sizzling 3:57.47, established at the Boston University Last Chance meet on Feb. 27, 2022, but in Blacksburg on Friday he was one of only two athletes earning sub-4 minute times. Second place went to University of North Carolina sophomore Ethan Strand (3:59.83). A pair of North Carolina State juniors captured the third and fourth places, Ian Harrison (4:01.09) and Brett Gardner (4:01.33).

Trailing Strand and Penn State’s Drew Maher for most of the race, Schaffer used a strong finishing kick to overtake the Tar Heel athlete in the last two laps, while Maher dropped out with three laps to go on the 8-lap indoor track.

Schaffer was a highly decorated track star at both indoor and outdoor distances in both high school and college. He competed for Binghamton University and, after graduation last year, joined the ZAP Endurance team in the late summer and will primarily focus on distances from 5,000 meters to 10,000 meters, according to his comments in an interview with High Country Sports in September.