The No. 6 runner on our cross country pre-season countdown is Pinecrest's Zack Gilbertson!
Gilbertson, a rising junior, is the defending NCHSAA 4A Mideast cross country champion, where he ran his personal best of 15:40. Gilbertson is already a very well decorated athlete. The junior is already a two-time cross country all-state runner, and was a Middle School All-American. He placed 7th in both the 2019 and 2020 NCHSAA 4A cross country state meets.
As an 8th grader he was runner-up at New Balance Outdoor Nationals in the middle school 2 mile, and 3rd in the middle school mile.
He is NC Freshman No. 6 all-time in the 5000m, clocking 15:50.
He did not run a lot in track season, and did not set any new personal bests, but when it comes to the XC course it is hard to bet against Gilbertson.
| BOYS 5000 METER RUN FINALS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | POINTS | ||||
| 1 | Zack Gilbertson | 10 | Pinecrest | 15:40.13 | 1 | |||
| 2 | Justin Hayes | 12 | Panther Creek | 15:46.67 | 2 | |||
| 3 | James Elkan | 11 | Cary | 15:54.74 | 3 | |||
| 4 | Viktor Idhammar | 12 | Cary | 16:03.01 | 4 | |||
| 5 | Krister Sjoblad | 10 | Athens Drive | 16:10.88 | 0 | |||
