Ben Fielder (Asheville School), Ben Huffman (Providence Day), and Cole Honeycutt (East Rowan) immediately took command of the race.
Trailing this breakaway group after one mile were Josh Thornburg (Asheville Christian) and Robert Kovach (TC Roberson).
Behind them came Alex Craig (South Caldwell) and German Perez (North Lincoln), followed by Nick Linder (Providence Day).
Eli Clevenger (North Buncombe) and Jose Navarrette (Kannapolis AL Brown) were also in the top 10.
T. C. Roberson did not have a good start, and they paid for it as the race progressed.
By the time the second loop was complete, a pack of Providence Day runners had worked into the top 10 and had control of the race.
Meanwhile, up front Fiedler pulled away from Huffman, while Honeycutt faded and eventually got passed by Thornburg.
Kovach eventually fell victim to the rising threesome of Providence Day: Payne, Jack Paddison, and Nick Linder.
Providence Day justified their #8 ranking in the lastest All-Classes Top 25, while TC Roberson clearly had an off-day.
North Lincoln almost caught the Rams for second place, while East Rowan did not show their best in this meet.
Championship Girls
Brooke Gordon (T.C. Roberson) hit the first left turn in first place, and didn't look back once the rest of the race.
By the 1 mile mark she had already opened up an enormous lead over the first chase pack.
The trailing group contained Grace Turner and Jada Blake (Lincolnton), Savannah Fornshell and Allie Castro (North Lincoln), and Emma Brown (Providence Day)
Next came the T.C. Roberson back, backing up Gordon by taking complete command of the team race.
Rachel Koon, Elizabeth Mosher, Anastasia Soule, and Ashley Mull had Katarina Ruehl (North Buncombe) on their heels.
Gordon stretched her lead on the second loop, while Turner and Blake pulled slightly ahead of Castro.
The TCR pack broke down a bit, as Koon maintained her position but her teammates faded slightly.
Fornshell and Brown were battling intently, as were Ruehl and Mosher, as the top 10 still had some settling-out to do.
At the finish, Gordon clocked 17:51 for a new PR, although her pace faded over the final mile.
Turner continued to surge forward, leaving Blake behind as she ripped off a huge PR of 18:42.
Castro snuck by Blake with a strong kick, while Koon maintained her position all the way to the line without much challenge.
T.C. Roberson had won solidly, but the late fade of their 3-4-5 opened the door for a strong North Lincoln team to get fairly close.
