Matt Debole crosses the finish line in second place at the 2001 Foot Locker South Regional. (Photo by PhotoRun, click to enlarge)

Matt Debole (2nd, South)

Hometown: Winston-Salem, NC
High School: Mount Tabor High School
Year of Graduation: 2003

This year's Foot Locker South Regional was expected to be a showdown between Virginia's Bobby Lockhart and Kentucky's Bobby Curtis. Matt Debole obviously didn't get the memo, however, as he snuck in to grab second place, six seconds behind Lockhart and three seconds ahead of Curtis. The entire qualifying field finished in a span of 14 seconds, with all eight qualifiers running under 15:00. In other words, the South Region will be well represented at this year's Foot Locker National Finals.

Other Notes:
...Debole's 14:49 5k run at the Foot Locker South Regional was the fastest ever by a North Carolina high school boy... Debole ran 15:01.6 to break the all-class NC state meet record of 15:05.9 set by Watauga’s Ricky Brookshire in 1999... DeBole's Mount Tabor teammate, Carly Matthews, finished second in the girls race at the South Regional and will join him at Nationals.

In the News:
Matthews, Debole qualify for nationals (11/25/01)
Debole takes second, Mitric qualifies as well (11/24/01)
Debole, Mitric focused (11/23/01)
Debole wins 4-A title in record time (11/3/01)
Wins Brenner Children's Classic 5k Run in 15:10 (8/25/01)