2A Boys
As soon as the race began Josey Weaver of Madison made his way to the front. Josey had one goal today and that was obvious - WIN!
As they came to about the 800 meter mark, it was Josey Weaver and Zachary Bryan of Reidsville. Jeremy Gerlach of Cedar Ridge was next leading a group of guys. A couple pre-race favorites, Mark Sullivan and Dakota Norris were off the pace a bit at this point.
Zachary Bryan and Josey came through the mile together in about 5:03. Owen HS was looking strong and looked to in first as a team. Trailing them but not too far off was West Henderson.
As they came down the hill the first time, Josey had begun to gap the rest of the field, but Mark Sullivan was looking strong and moving up fast.
Josey hit 2 miles in 10:26, with Sullivan back about 8 seconds or so. At the 2-mile mark, Owen was easily winning the team battle over West Henderson.
It looked as if Josey was completely running away with the race as they headed into the woods for the last time. Sullivan of Gibbons was in 2nd, but not moving up anymore. Then it was Zachary Bryan, David Riska of North Surry, Dakota Norris of Mitchell, and Ben Sterett of Swansboro.
Mark made it a bit more interesting as he came hauling off the hill, but he didn't have enough to catch the determined Josey Weaver. Josey won in 16:19, 7 seconds ahead of Mark Sullivan. These two had put a pretty nice gap on the rest of the field, as the 3rd place finisher, Zachary Bryan, came through in 16:49. David Riska and Ben Sterett rounded out the top 5.
Owen moved up even after the 2-mile, led by Wil Canon's 6th place finish. Chris Patino joined him on the All-State team, finishing 8th. They put 5 guys in the top 30. West Henderson ran well, too, placing 5 in the top 33. Alex Cremer was the top finisher for WH in 15th place.
Orange HS won the battle of the rest, as they placed their top 5 from 21st to 58th. Jake Wimberly finished as their top runner in 17:20.
2A Girls
The Gibbons' girls came in heavy favorites and instead of waiting, I'll tell you now, they set a new record for the lowest score! The Gibbons' team scored a very low 21 points.
The race was all it was supposed to be as Heather Beichner of Gibbons and Sarah Willingham of North Henderson ran side by side for most of the race.
At the mile mark, Sarah Rapp of Gibbons, Beichner, Tori Jones of Madison, Willingham, and Morgan Turner of Lincolnton were all together. They hit the mile in about 6:02. Cardinal Gibbons had 4 girls in the top 10 at 1-mile. West Henderson also started out well and was in 2nd.
As the girls came down the hill, gaps were beginning to form. Willingham and Beichner were together and then Turner was chasing. Now Gibbons had 5 in the top 10!
It was like Noah's arc as they approached the 2-mile, as they were all in pairs. Heather and Sarah hit the 2-mile in 12:19, then it was Sarah Rapp and Morgan Turner in 12:23. Tori Jones and Molly Baker of Gibbons came through in 12:26, and finally Mackenzie Robinson of Orange and Halsey Merritt of Gibbons hit about 12:36.
West Henderson still looked tough, but Durham School of the Arts was now moving up as well. They looked to be in 2nd with West Henderson fading a bit.
As the girls went up the hill the final time, Heather Beichner made a big move and Willingham couldn't respond. Beichner ran an amazing last 1000 meters!
It was Beichner, Willingham, Rapp, Turner, Baker, Jones, Robinson, and Merritt as they came down the hill.
Gibbons, again, scored a very low 21 points. Durham School of the Arts was 2nd with 83 and West Henderson held off North Henderson by 3, 173 to 176.