I'm not sure why the longest championship streaks have been in the largest classifications (since 3A and 4A first split off into their own separate championships in 1986, there have been a combined 8 examples of 4 consecutive wins or more in those classes, while there have been only 4 in the two smaller classes). That has certainly been the case lately, as three teams carried major ongoing title runs into the 4A races, while only two other teams total had streaks going in the remaining 6 races of the NCHSAA State Championship.
When I was writing the preview articles, it seemed very possible that all of the streaks in the morning session would come to an end. That didn't turn out to be true, but two of them did fall, one in each of the two 4A races. In both cases, the winning team was deserving, and the two teams who saw their championship runs end both handled their disappointment with the utmost grace - as anyone that knows the coaches and athletes in those programs would expect. Check out the play-by-play below, and make sure you didn't miss any of the photos and videos from the meet!
4A Boys Recap
Broughton had won the last 4 championships and entered the meet ranked #1 in our team scoring, but from the end of the first loop it was clear that Mount Tabor was going for it. The Spartans had superior positioning in the opening scrum, and the sheer crowding of the field in the first mile may have made it hard for anyone to change their position. By the time the race reached the mile mark, Mount Tabor had its 3rd runner even with Broughton's 2nd, and Tabor's 4th was just ahead of the main pack of Caps. The 5th for the Spartans was trailing, though, and even at this early point it was clear that the team battle would be won or lost there. Cardinal Gibbons also had a solid start as a team, looking like a threat to crack the top 3 in the early going.
Individually, the early pace was set by Apex's Derek Duin, who kept the hammer down through the mile mark and made the pre-race favorites work to chase him down. They did that during the long downhill stretch along the road, with defending champion Jeremy Brown (Broughton) and the top-ranked individual in the state, Connor Lane (Cardinal Gibbons), going shoulder to shoulder as they pulled away. By the time those two came back up the hill from the lower half of the course, they had opened up a nearly 100-meter lead on the next-closest competitor, and some interesting things were happening behind them. Mount Tabor had strengthened their position up front, with Kenny Kneisel, Cameron Ponder, and Nelson Russ all running together in 4th - 6th behind Apex's Ben Savino. Tabor's 4th runner (Ian Foley) was still ahead of the main Broughton group, but the Spartans' 5th man was still trailing enough to make the race very close.
Over the final 800, Brown was able to break away to claim his second straight individual title and his 4th spot on the all-state team, capping a remarkable career for the UNC-bound senior. Lane finished 2nd, 16 seconds ahead of Kneisel, who led the first wave of Spartans. Savino finished 4th, with Ponder and Russ right behind him, followed by Ian Shanklin (Page), who had a very strong race. That meant Mount Tabor led 11-24 after each team's 3rd runner, and when the Spartans' 5th man (Michael Moerk) came in 4 places behind his Broughton counterpart, the win was secure for Mount Tabor. Although Kneisel will get recognition for his top-3 finish, it was Ponder who was the biggest key to his team's victory with an outstanding postseason.
4A Girls Recap
We had the opportunity to witness something truly unusual Saturday, as 5-time defending 3A champion Cardinal Gibbons moved up to take on 6-time defending 4A champion Green Hope. The thing is, neither of them was ranked #1 in the pre-race team scoring; that honor went to Leesville Road, who was hoping to crash the party and end both streaks. The Pride did not get well-positioned in the early part of the race, though, leaving them trying to climb out of a hole on a very muddy course. That is, except for Nevada Mareno, who had gone straight to the front of the race and stayed there, leading Elly Henes (Green Hope) by 5 meters after the first 800.
By the time Mareno led the field to the mile mark, Rebecca Kefer (Northwest Guilford) had moved into 3rd at the front of the chase pack, with Morgan Adams (Green Hope) on her shoulder. Gibbons had Sophie Ebihara and Marissa Bishop in that pack, and Panther Creek's Bridgette Sullivan was right with them. Green Hope and Cardinal Gibbons both had 3 girls in the top 12, with Green Hope holding the edge at the 4th and 5th runners for the early team lead. Leesville's main group was not far behind and trying to move up on the firmer footing of the inner loop, while Apex was off to a strong start.
Kefer made a move to pull away on the long downhill, and she had space behind her as she ran in 3rd at the two mile mark. Behind her, the team race was slowly taking shape as Sloan Walter (Cardinal Gibbons) began to move up through the main pack. As the athletes came up the hill, with Mareno extending her lead and Henes also pulling away from the rest of the field, it appeared that Green Hope was still holding onto a slim team lead - and it was also clear that Leesville Road was still trying to re-engage the top two teams, as G'Jasmyne Butler tried to move up alongside teammates Sydney Winchel and Emily Pettis.
Mareno did her part for Leesville Road admirably, clocking 17:56 to become the only girl to break 18:30 on the course Saturday. Leesville Road did gain ground in the final mile, but it was not enough to get them out of 3rd place in the team standings. Over the last 800 meters, it was the Cardinal Gibbons runners that made up just a little ground each, and that earned them a 4-point victory over Green Hope. It started with Bishop moving up from 5th to 3rd, followed by a valiant effort by an obviously-struggling Ebihara to hold onto 7th place. Walter was the big hero for the Crusaders, though, as the freshman made it all the way up to 12th place to give Gibbons a 3-point lead after 3 runners, which her teammates in the 4th and 5th slots were able to hold. Individually, Sullivan snuck past Kefer down the final stretch as the two finished in the top 5 overall, capping a strong career for the Panther Creek senior and setting the stage for a bright future for the Northwest Guilford sophomore.
Historically, Cardinal Gibbons now has arguably the best run of championship success in state history. The Crusaders won 4 consecutive 2A state championships ending in 2008, then they moved up to 3A and finished 2nd to Chapel Hill in 2009. Since then, Gibbons has won 6 straight titles (5 in 3A and now 1 in 4A). That makes 10 titles in 11 years over 3 different classifications, which puts them in the same league as T.C. Roberson's 10-in-12-years run from 1997 to 2008 - and the Crusaders return 6 of 7 from this year's team, including 3 freshmen, for the chance to extend their streak to 7 years.
More NCHSAA State Meet Coverage
