It was a windy day in Wilmington for the NCISAA State Championship! New state champions were crowned as the 2021 NCISAA cross country season came to a conclusion. The day was mixed with rain and sun, but overall the conditions made for some good racing.
The NCISAA 4A girls kicked off the day with a bang. Kasey Cone (Charlotte Country Day) had a great season and capped it off with her second consecutive cross country state title. She ran 18:23, just a few seconds of her personal best! Blane McElroy (Providence Day School) had a huge race, and held on to Cone as long as she could. McElroy fell off the lead but held on for a 2nd place finish and a 32 second personal best of 18:34.
The team battle was tight between Charlotte Country Day and Providence Day School. Linde Fonville (Charlotte Country Day) was right on McElroy's tail and finished 3rd in 18:35. Carly Arrington (Providence Day) finished 5th, but Charlotte Country Day's Abby Kerrins and Harper Shaw broke up the Arrington duo finishing 8th and 9th respectively. Tate Arrington was 11th.
Charlotte Country Day established a strong lead as their No. 5, Parker Cranz, was 12th. Providence Day's Cameron Tucker fought hard and finished 18th.
Freshman Annie Miller (Metrolina Christian Academy) was 4th and eighth grader Audrey Crowder (Durham Academy) was 6th.
Charlotte Country Day finished with 33 points, edging Providence Day School who finished 2nd with 49 points.
On the boys' side it was a dominating performance from Christ School. Led by junior Rocky Hansen, they took home the first state title in school history finishing with 35 points!
Christ School went 1-2-3 with sophomore Dawson Reeves finishing 2nd in 15:47 and senior Jackson Burch 3rd in 16:07.
Hansen won the race with the 2nd fastest time in NCISAA State Meet history, a personal best of 15:21. His time is also good for NC No. 3 this season.
Arran Swift (Cary Academy) and Landon Roemer (Providence Day School) rounded out the top five.
In the 3A Classification, Jack Sterrett (Coastal Christian) capped off his impressive season with a state title. The sophomore ran 16:16 to take the title in an over 30 second victory on the field.
The victory for Sterrett made the difference in the team scores as Coastal Christian took home the team title over Gaston Christian, 43-60. Thad O'Neill, Tyler Niloff, and Sam Morgan all finished in the top 10 for Coastal Christian.
On the girls' side Cary Christian's Tori Stonebraker made it back-to-back individual titles for the school, as she used a strong back half to pull away from a heavy lead pack. She ran away with the 3A championship clocking 19:16.
Asheville School was lead to the team title by Stella Stringer and Abby Smith as they finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.
In 2A, Cruz Hesling (Westchester Country Day) was the favorite heading into the day, and did not disappoint. He lead start tofinish and earn himself a state title, clocking 16:35. Senior Nick Clark (Burlington Christian) was 2nd in 17:07. Two eighth graders, Kavi Gibson (Carolina Friends) and Corbin Weeks (The O'Neal School) finished 3rd and 4th respectively.
Davidson Day, led by Mitchell Zammitti, Chase Perry, and Matthew Doty's top 10 performances, took home a close team championship over Burlington Christian, 68-78.
| TEAM SCORES |
|---|
| PLACE | TEAM | POINTS | SCORERS | TIMES |
|---|
| 1 | Davidson Day School | 68 | 5+7+10+14+32 (41+50) | 1:39 1-5 Split | 18:24 Avg |
| 2 | Burlington Christian Academy | 78 | 2+9+12+17+38 (53+76) | 2:33 1-5 Split | 18:24 Avg |
| 3 | The O'Neal School | 130 | 4+19+25+39+43 (47+85) | 2:26 1-5 Split | 18:53 Avg |
On the girls' side of things in 2A, Trinity Academy of Raleigh came to play, and they showed they will be here for a long time. They took home the team championship with 73 points with a team that has zero seniors, one junior, two sophomores, two freshmen, and two seventh graders.
Freshman Morgan Pennington ran away with the individual title as well for Trinity Academy of Raleigh, running 18:37. Her teammate, seventh grader Hannah Lester, was runner-up in 19:46. Another seventh grader, Carly Giles was their No. 3 runner and was 19th overall.
The only individual state champions that were seniors both came from the 1A classification. On the boys' side Mason Gladiuex (Cross Roads Christian) took the victory over Gavin Lenz (Grace Christian), and Zach Gilpin (Woodlawn). Grace Christian, however, got the team title over Crossroads narrowly, 52-57.
For the girls, it was Halifax Academy senior Morgan Hudomint taking the win in 20:55. Oakwood school went 2-3-4 in the race and took home the team victory.
