Competing in arguably the toughest regional in the state, defending boys state champion Broughton, led by individual winner Reidy Jones, won the team title and will be joined by Sanderson, Green Hope and Apex at Tanglewood for the finals next Saturday afternoon.

Defending regional girls champion Green Hope repeated its success of a year ago, but the Falcons’ goal is to improve on last season’s state runner-up finish.

Cary, East Chapel Hill, and Millbrook also advanced to the state finals. East Chapel Hill senior Carolyn Baskir, who finished second in the state last year, defended her individual regional championship.

“We won the regional last year, but then finished second to East Chapel Hill in the state finals,” Falcons coach Mike Miragliuolo said. “We would gladly do it the other way around. The big one is next week, but the girls ran well today.”

Green Hope has a very young team, with just one junior and the rest sophomores and freshmen finishing in the Falcons’ top five. Sophmore Erica Amatori was the top Falcon, finishing fifth, followed by Maura McDonnell sixth, Jessica Rossabi 11th, Olivia Enright 12th, and Lauren Colberg 14th.

“We run as a pack and push each other,” Amatori said. “Our goals are team goals. We want to win as a team.”