Coming in at No. 7 on our cross country pre-season countdown are the Patriots of Pinecrest!
Pinecrest is led by junior Zack Gilbertson, who is already a two-time all-state cross country runner. Gilbertson only ran a handful of times during the track season, so it will be interesting to see where his fitness is as the season gets underway. He ran 15:40 at the 2020 NCHSAA 4A Mideast Regional, where he took home the individual crown, and helped Pinecrest take 4th place.
Adrian Archer, a rising senior, has personal bests on the track of 9:32 in the 3200m and 4:27 in the 1600m. As a sophomore Archer ran 15:57 over 5000m at the state meet, which was good for 11th place. If Archer can return to that form this Pinecrest squad has a 1-2 punch that could both finish top five at the state meet.
Junior Manny Winkley is coming off his first season of running. He ran personal bests of 2:00, 4:48, and 10:29 on the track, with a 5000m cross country personal best of 16:59.
If now-sophomores Connor Cuthrell and Raymond Hoffman can have big-time summers of training this Pinecrest pack can be at the top of the state. Cuthrell ran 4:48 over 1600m as a freshman, and 17:03 over 5000m on the cross country course. While Hoffman ran 10:34 over 3200m and 17:24 in cross country over 5000m.
This is a young Patriot team that, if everything works out, can be a real surprise at the state meet in November!
| 8 | Pinecrest (NC) | 491 | ||
| 1) Zack Gilbertson | 15:40.13 | 3 | ||
| 2) Adrian Archer | 16:14.00 | 23 | ||
| 3) Manny Winkley | 16:59.08 | 129 | ||
| 4) Connor Cuthrell | 17:03.87 | 141 | ||
| 5) Raymond Hoffman | 17:24.65 | 195 | ||
| Average Time: 16:40.35 Total Time: 1:23:21.73 1-5 Split: 1:44.52 | ||||
| 6) Aaron Aycock | 17:38.00 | 239 | ||
| 7) Evan Finney | 18:45.00 | 517 | ||