In only its fifth year, the Providence Invitational has become one of the best early-season high school cross country meets in North Carolina.

The meet, which starts at 9 a.m. today at McAlpine Park with the girls' race, has 40 schools and more than 1,400 runners from the Carolinas. The boys' race begins at 9:30 a.m.

The meet will feature 17 returning all-state boys' and girls' runners and eight teams that won or finished runner-up at the state championships last fall.

"I had to turn people away this year," said Providence girls' coach Kurt Niedenzu when asked about the meet's growth in such a short amount of time. "I don't know if I want to add more races."

Niedenzu began the meets for the local schools, then some of his coaching friends in South Carolina began coming to the meet. After that, it snowballed when other top teams from North Carolina saw the level of competition.

Highlighting the girls' field will be last season's All-Observer runner of the year, Kaitlyn Kramer (Ardrey Kell); N.C. 3A champion Sarah Rapp (Cardinal Gibbons); S.C. 3A runner-up Sara Manesiotis (Hilton Head); All-Observer runner Jamie Vezolles (Charlotte Catholic), third in the N.C. 3A championship, and Brittany Williams (Mauldin), third at the S.C. 4A championship.

Two of the Carolina's best girls' teams also will go head-to-head: N.C. 4A girls' champion Cary Green Hope (ranked 8th in the ESPN/Rise Fab 50 preseason national poll) and S.C. 3A girls' champion Hilton Head, which returns its top seven runners.

Also, four of the top six finishers (Cardinal Gibbons, Marvin Ridge, Weddington and Charlotte Catholic) at last year's N.C. 3A girls' championships will compete.

The boys' field will be highlighted by All-Observer and N.C. 3A runner-up Chris Colo (Marvin Ridge); S.C. 4A runner-up Joseph Keitt (Ridge View); S.C. 3A runner-up Jack Manesiotis (Hilton Head) and Mitch Mallory (Raleigh Wakefield), who finished fourth at the N.C. 4A championships last fall and ran one of the fastest 3,200 meters in N.C. history during track last season.

The boys' team race will feature S.C. 3A boys' champion Hilton Head, which returns four of its top five, including three all-state runners (Manesiotis, Jack Felix and Mackenzie Johnston); N.C. 2A boys' champion East Lincoln, led by all-state runner Brather Cline; N.C. 4A runner-up Raleigh Broughton; S.C. 4A runner-up South View, and N.C. 3A runner-up Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons.

Also, three of the top five boys' teams from last year's N.C. 3A championship will run (Gibbons, Marvin Ridge and Charlotte Catholic).