Each Thursday we'll feature Future Stars who are sophomore year or younger including middle school. We'll look at recent performances and give some insight to their running careers thus far dating back to middle school if we have that information.
Kaitlyn Estep (Cardinal Gibbons) - 2028
Kaitlyn Estep has been on the scene for a while as a star middle schooler competing for Without Limits Triangle and Cary Christian. Estep comes into high school immediately as one of the top distance runners in North Carolina with credentials of 2:11.68, 4:49.94 and 10:39 for 800m, 1600m and 3200m. Estep had her 5K debut for Cardinal Gibbons finishing as the teams #2 runner behind Hannah Rae Shaffer, who won Knights Crossing, taking 4th place overall in 17:56.50. Her mark is good for a current NC No. 3 mark so far this season. Her Cardinal Gibbons team was already a likely team to make some noise on the national scene this fall and adding Estep makes that much more likely.
Owen Munn (Greensboro Home School) - 2027
Homeschool star Owen Munn has had a strong start to the cross country season winning the River Run Invitational in 15:44 then following it up with a 15:38 at Wilmington Beach Blast last weekend where he finished 2nd overall. Munn has a great freshman year running his season best of 16:20 at Hagan Stone and running 4:23 and 9:48 on the track for 1600m and 3200m. Munn currently ranks as the top sophomore in the state and 10th overall.
Elle Dawson (Ragsdale/High Point Blaze) - 2028
Similar to Estep, Elle Dawson has been a star just and had a big year on the track competing for her club High Point Blaze. Dawson holds marks of 2:14.53, 5:06.71 for 800m and 1600m as well as strong marks in the 1500m and 3000m of 4:42.83 and 10:18.57. She ran 18:02.68 winning at the Bob Schilly Invitational and hung in with the states best last weekend at Friday Night Lights running 18:07 to finish 5th in the Championship race. Along with Estep, Dawson will be a big factor in the NCHSAA 4A State Championship come November for Ragsdale.
Ralph Pfeil (Lejeune) - 2028
Lejeune freshman Ralph Pfeil is a name to get familiar with, especially amongst the NCHSAA 1A classification who had a strong debut last weekend at Wilmington Beach Blast. He place 13th overall in the event and ran a 16:36 to rank as the 4th fastest freshman in North Carolina. Pfeil was 7th at the 14 Year Old 1500m at the AAU Junior Olympic Games this summer competing for the Cape Fear Flyers running 4:23 and took 3rd in the 3000m running 9:36.39. His 4:23 would put him at around a 4:42 for a full 1600m regularly contested in North Carolina. Pfeil already ranks 3rd amongst the NCHSAA 1A Classification and is going to be in contention for state championships over his next four years of High School.
Each Thursday we'll feature Future Stars who are sophomore year or younger including middle school. We'll look at recent performances and give some insight to their running careers thus far dating back to middle school if we have that information.
Kaitlyn Estep (Cardinal Gibbons) - 2028
Kaitlyn Estep has been on the scene for a while as a star middle schooler competing for Without Limits Triangle and Cary Christian. Estep comes into high school immediately as one of the top distance runners in North Carolina with credentials of 2:11.68, 4:49.94 and 10:39 for 800m, 1600m and 3200m. Estep had her 5K debut for Cardinal Gibbons finishing as the teams #2 runner behind Hannah Rae Shaffer, who won Knights Crossing, taking 4th place overall in 17:56.50. Her mark is good for a current NC No. 3 mark so far this season. Her Cardinal Gibbons team was already a likely team to make some noise on the national scene this fall and adding Estep makes that much more likely.