Coming in at No. 7 in the NCRunners cross country pre-season countdown is Stuart W. Cramer's Nicholas Willer!
Willer, the defending NCHSAA 3A West Regional cross country champion, was 7th at last season's NCHSAA 3A state meet. He ran a personal best of 15:51 at the AAU National Cross Country Championships in 2020.
He really blossomed into one of the stars in North Carolina over the last two years. Going from a personal best of 16:40 in 2019 to 15:51 in 2020 cannot be ignored.
He came back with a strong track season, too. He won the Big South Conference and NCHSAA 3A West Regional 3200m titles. He ran a personal best at the state meet, clocking 9:33, good for 5th. He ran a personal best of 4:28 in the 1600m and was runner-up in that event at the regional.
Willer is no stranger to high-pressure racing, and has always shined when the lights are brightest. With his brother, Zachary, right on his shoulder racing, this duo could make some serious noise in the NCHSAA 3A classification.
| BOYS 5000 METER RUN FINALS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | POINTS | ||||
| 1 | Nicholas Willer | 11 | Stuart W. Cramer | 15:53.73 | 1 | |||
| 2 | Zachary Willer | 11 | Stuart W. Cramer | 16:00.40 | 2 | |||
| 3 | Austin Brotemarkle | 11 | Forestview | 16:04.76 | 3 | |||
| 4 | Oussama Ajala | 12 | Forestview | 16:07.31 | 4 | |||
| 5 | Rien Freeman | 12 | Watauga | 16:13.47 | 5 | |||
