Every single school that participated in the afternoon session of the NCISAA State Championship on Friday would be a 1A school in the NCHSAA - and some of them are incredibly small even by those standards. And yet, arguably the best races of the entire weekend (team-wise and among individuals) were laid down at McAlpine by the 2A girls and boys, the last two events of the day. The fact that they were running in the hottest temperatures only makes the intensity of the competition even more impressive, and the 1A races were no joke, either!
The afternoon was kicked off with the 1A girls, in which Morgan Lane (Community School of Davidson) led most of the race. She was passed by the Woodlawn School duo of Bella Jacoby and Anne Cunningham in the third mile, and then Cunningham beat her teammate to the finish line for the win. The 1-2 finish was more than enough to power Woodlawn to the team title over Wayne Country Day, who had an aggressive team race and were clearly the deepest squad in the field. In the 1A boys' race, the Woodlawn success continued with Quinn Schneider leading from wire to wire. Teammates Zachary Lorch and Tripp Berini finished 3rd and 5th, giving the Trailblazers a sweep of the team titles as well as the individual wins. Hickory Christian finished 2nd in the team scores, while Jackson Harris (Halifax Academy) was the individual runner-up.
We knew the 2A girls race would be spectacular up front, with the last 3 individual champions squaring off - how often do you get to see that? We also had a sense that the team race would be very interesting, with two local rivals trying to beat each other while holding off one of the newest NCISAA members in the process. We got all that and more in what very well may have been the most exciting race of the season, let alone the weekend! 2013 champion Ralene Kwiatkowski (Carolina Day) was too strong for the competition, first pulling away from defending titlist Jennifer Stephenson (Village Christian) on the hill, then leaving 2012 winner Melissa Zammitti (Davidson Day) over the final mile. Kwiatkowski's 18:31 was the best time of the weekend on the course, including the two NCHSAA regionals held the next day. Her teammate Olivia Sutter moved up to take 3rd behind Zammitti, and that proved to be critical in one of the closest state meet team battles you'll ever see. Carolina Day held off St. Thomas More by 1 point, with Asheville School a scant 2 points more back in 3rd place!
After that action, it was almost inevitable that the 2A boys race would be a little bit of a let-down. In reality, though, this was also exciting to watch, with a lead pack that stayed together deep into the third mile. Eventually Luke Evans (Westchester Country Day) pulled away with a ferocious last 800 to win in 16:28, with Jarrett Gingrich (Epiphany) the only other runner in this race to break 17. The team competition was not so clear-cut, though; after Grace Christian had Matthew Horan and Will Sossaman go 3-4, things got rally jumbled. Epiphany was the first team with 3 runners in, followed by Grace Christian, but both squads had big gaps back to their 4th and 5th runners. That left the door open for Cary Christian, and the Knights snuck through for a 115-121 win over Grace Christian, with Epiphany in 3rd at 125.
More NCISAA State Meet Coverage
NOTE: the 1A awards ceremony was held during the 2A races, so we were not able to get any photos of it.
2A Girls Team Champion: Carolina Day
2A Boys Team Champion: Cary Christian
2A Girls Team Runner-Up: St. Thomas More
2A Boys Team Runner-Up: Grace Christian
2A Girls Individual Champion: Ralene Kwiatkowski, Carolina Day
2A Boys Individual Champion: Luke Evans, Westchester Country Day
2A Girls All-State Individuals
2A Boys All-State Individuals
