Nine NC athletes, one SC athlete, and one GA traveled together and represented their respective states and Team Carolina over the past week and half in Australia.
The athletes not only bonded, making friendships that they will never forget, but they also competed well and all came home with hardware!
In the All-American Race, held at Runaway Bay Park in Queensland, Australia went very well for both teams. In the team competition, the girl's finished 1st in the large team division for the 2nd straight year! The girl's were led by Rebecca Sweeney, formerly of Mallard Creek (just moved to Virginia). Rebecca placed 10th overall and 4th in the large team division. Here's how the girl's ran.
Rebecca Sweeney, 10th overall, 4th in division, 20:50
Leslie Pence, 12th overall, 6th in division, 21:17
Kristen Stout, 13th overall, 7th in division, 21:23
Jaclyn Warden, 15th overall, 9th in division, 21:29
Emily Casey, 16th overall, 10th in division, 21:31
Kyerra Hines, 18th overall, 12th in division, 21:38
Alexis Jones, 21st overall, 14th in division, 22:00
The girls packed it up well for the majority of the race and easily dominated the team competition. The girls scored 36 points, while the 2nd place team of Utah, Wyoming, & Virginia scored 86.
The boys were led by Dylan Cunningham of Georgia. This was the smallest team of boys that has traveled to the Down Under Games thus they were in the small team division. The boy's placed 3rd as a team in the small team division. Here's how they ran.
Dylan Cunningham, 39th overall, 7th in division, 18:13
Peter Lewis, 41st overall, 8th in division, 18:20
Cody Murphy, 47th overall, 12th in division, 18:44
Patrick Burton, 58th overall, 16th in division, 19:18
The second race of the trip was the Australia/American Race at Pizzey Park in Miami, Queensland, Australia. The teams have raced here each of the last 3 years. The Australian numbers were down on the boy's side but one of the better girl's teams in Queensland showed to race. The Australian teams are having their state competition this weekend, so many decided to take it easy instead of push through a race with the Americans. None the less, it was still a great atmosphere and a great race for many kids.
This time around Peter Lewis of Charlotte Latin led the boys as he practiced getting out harder and it paid off. The course was a bit longer than a 5k, so only a handful of athletes ran faster on this course then the one at Runaway Bay. Peter was one of those athletes, as he ran 18:19 and placed higher among the American's than in the first race as well.
Peter Lewis, 36th overall, 18:19
Dylan Cunningham, 42nd overall, 18:38
Cody Murphy, 51st overall, 19:02
Patrick Burton, 65th overall, 19:37
The girls were led by West Rowan's Leslie Pence who improved her time and placement by quite a bit. Leslie had one of the best races of the day on the girl's side considering the course was longer than a 5k. In the first race, Leslie placed 12th overall, among just Americans, in a time of 21:17. In the race with the Australian's, Leslie placed 10th overall and 4th among the Americans. Here were how the girl's broke down.
Leslie Pence, 10th overall, 20:54
Rebecca Sweeney, 14th overall, 20:08
Emily Casey, 22nd overall, 21:33
Jaclyn Warden, 24th overall, 21:39
Alexis Jones, 27th overall, 22:03
Kyerra Hines, 30th overall, 22:24
Kristen Stout, 42nd overall, 23:47
If you have interest in either competing in track or cross country next please contact me at ben.hovis@providenceday.org