Results

4A | 3A | 2A | 1A

Combined Boys | Combined Girls
*1A Robbinsville is for real!
 

Team Champions:

Green Hope (4A Girls)


Green Hope (4A Boys)


Cardinal Gibbons (3A Girls)


Chapel Hill (3A Boys)


Carrboro (2A Girls)


Carrboro (2A Boys)


Hendersonville (1A Girls)


Robbinsville (1A Boys)

Individual Champions:
Blake Williams, Northern Durham (4A Boys)
Darby Middlebrook, Watauga (4A Girls)

Graham Crawford, Williams (3A Boys)
Sarah Rapp, Cardinal Gibbons (3A Girls)

Eric Williams, Northwood (2A Boys)
Grace Morken, Carrboro (2A Girls)

Matus Kriska, Mt. Airty (1A Boys)
Carol Blankenship, East Wilkes (1A Girls)

Video

4A Boys | 4A Girls | 3A Boys | 3A Girls

2A Boys | 2A Girls | 1A Boys | 1A Girls

 

Race Summary

4A Boys:
The boys race started quickly with Luis Vargas of Harnett Central taking the early lead. Just as he had the week before at the East Regional, he shot out off the start to a very quick first mile. I'm not sure of the exact time, but overhead a few people saying somewhere in the 4:30's. Whether that is true or not, he had a nice lead 800m into the race.

Following him was a pack (as you can see in the video) that included the future winner, Blake Williams of Northern Durham. Blake wasn't even leading the group, just sort of cruising there in the middle. The team competition seemed to belong to Green Hope, as some of the other pre-race favorites weren't off to a great start. It was very difficult to tell which teams were among the top-5 at the halfway point.

Somewhere in the back section of the course and down the long straight away, Blake made a move and took the lead from Vargas. One he got away from the pack and Vargas, it was a done deal as to who would win the individual crown. Vargas was still maintaining 2nd and then there was a very small pack battling for what seemed like 3rd place. Chris Garrett of West Johnston, Forrest Lyerly of Reagan, Ryan Walling of Green Hope, and Mitch Mallory of Wakefield formed this pack which later Garrett emerged from. Garrett not only broke from the pack, but he also was able to move enough that he caught Vargas for 2nd place.

Williams ran 15:29 with Garrett in 2nd place with a time of 15:40. For about 30 minutes, Blake Williams had the course record. Green Hope still looked very good at the finish, or at least good enough to claim the title. However, once again, it looked very close behind them. South View had moved up throughout the race and definitely looked like a contender for 2nd. Behind these two teams it was a very tight race from 3rd to 9th.

3A Boys:
This race had been hyped as a possible individual battle with a number of guys, 5 or more, who had proved themselves to be very good throughout the season. From the gun, there was a very solid pack being pulled along by Marvin Ridge's Chris Colo. There is something about XC that just brings out the best in Chris. He runs hard from the start and simply tries to see who can hang. It was Will Bass of Nash Central, Jimmy Hollingsworth of Northern Guilford, Chris Colo, Graham Crawford of Williams, & Braedon Koerwitz of Jay M. Robinson. Then there were a few others along with the entire Chapel Hill pack.

Chapel Hill was the easy, obvious favorite coming into the race. It may not have been the perfect day for their boys if you asked Coach Olsen, but it looked pretty impressive to everyone watching. Led by Asher Colburn-Hertzberg who placed 5th, the Chapel Hill boys moved up steadily throughout the race to finish: 5th, 6th, 10th, 11th, & 14th . . . a dominating performance.

Just after 2-miles, it was perfectly clear that is was a two person race between Graham Crawford and Chris Colo. Almost running stride for stride over the last mile, it definitely came down to the final 400 meters. As Colo and Crawford rounded the final turn, Crawford had control of the race and let his 800 speed take over. He was able to hold Colo off, 15:27 to 15:30. Crawford's time set a new course record, taking down the time that was run in the earlier race by Blake Williams. Both guys ran superb races and battled all the way to the end!

Marvin Ridge held off a much improved Jay M. Robinson by 3 points to capture 2nd place overall.

4A Girls:
This race was all about Green Hope as far as teams go. The 11th ranked team in the US and #2 ranked team in the Southeast region ran as a pack most of the way and put 4 in the top 10. They were led by Erica Amatori who ran 18:26, good for the 4th fastest time on the day. This is most likely the fastest team, best team in NC history. Green Hope's next goal is to qualify for Nike Team Nationals by finishing as one of the top 2 teams at the Southeast regional in late November.

Sammy George of Millbrook and Darby Middlebrook of Watauga had seemed to separate themselves a bit from the rest of the back during the season. Sammy had run 17:55 on this course already this season and Darby Middlebrook dropped a big PR of 17:48 at last week's West Regional at McAlpine. Sammy took out the early pace with Kaitlyn Kramer on her side. Darby sat back a bit as she typically does, but by the mile mark seemed to be right at the front. Darby came through 2 miles with the lead just as she had last weekend and never looked back. A very strong girl from the mountains, Darby seems to run very intellegently and smooth over the 2nd half of races. She easily distanced herself over the final mile, winning in a time of 17:52 . . . a new course record. Sammy George maintained 2nd place, running 18:15.

Watauga's girls improved upon their finish last week, 4th in the West, to finish 2nd overall at the state meet. Peaking at the right time? Help from front runners? A much improved #5? All these things gave Watauga the advantage over some of the other teams hoping to pull off the runner-up spot.

3A Girls:
"That's a Rapp!" . . . is all that could be heard once Sarah Rapp of Cardinal Gibbons was called to the stage as the #1 girl in 3A. She ran alone pretty much from the gun and still managed to run the 5th fastest time of the day, 18:29. Sarah took control early and was closely followed by Blake Dodge of West Carteret for about a mile. However, after a mile, it was all Rapp, and it was all about how much time could she put on the field. Winning by the 2nd largest margin of the day, Rapp was clearly the class of the field.

Her teammates from Cardinal Gibbons were in another battle with Chapel Hill. Last weekend at the regional, less than 10 points (I believe 6) separated the two teams with Gibbons taking the victory. It looked like Chapel Hill had an edge thanks to a tighter 1-5, but Gibbons came out on top once again. Only 2 points separated these two teams as Gibbons claimed the title with 82 points. Let's take a closer look at these two teams.

Cardinal Gibbons
#1 - 1
#2 - 9 (10)
#3 - 14 (24)
#4 - 19 (43)
#5 - 39 (82)

Chapel Hill
#1 - 5
#2 - 7 (12)
#3 - 11 (23)
#4 - 27 (50)
#5 - 34 (84)

Blake Dodge of West Carteret won the East Regional last week in a quick 18:42 . . . putting her name on the map. She put herself just behind Rapp early on and stuck in 2nd the entire race. This 9th grader may be someone to keep an eye on over the next few years.

2A Boys:
Carrboro was ranked #1 the entire season, but a number of coaches thought there may be a few teams that could give them a run for their money. Once the race began and the crowd was able to see the athletes for the 2nd time, it was obvious Carrboro was the top team. Their boys were easy to see in their purple uniforms and also easy to see because they were packed towards the front. They were led by Elliot Pahel-Short, who was the only Carrbor athlete in the top 10, finishing 8th. However, their other scoring members placed, 12th, 18th, 20th, & 22nd (scoring points).

East Lincoln looked solid up front and again were difficult to miss in their bright orange shorts. Dylan Belles and Brather Cline both placed in the top 10, earning All-State. hoever, their next 3 couldn't match the depth of Carrboro.

The individual race was a good one. There were many guys up front early, but just after the mile mark it became a battle of two. Travis Alfaro of Lincolnton led most of the way, with Eric Williams of Northwood sitting just off his shoulder. These two ran hard and distanced themselves from 3rd place Alex Goden of Brevard. As they approached the fnial turn it was Eric Williams with the lead. Proving that on this day the leader at the turn won each race, Eric Williams ran away from Alfaro for the invididual win.

1A Boys:
Coming into the state meet, this was obviously one of the closest team competitions. Lake Norman Charter and North Carolina School of Science and Math had made it known they were good. If you were from the mountains, you knew Robbinsville was very good and could battle for the title, too. People around the state had no idea Robbinsville was this good. From the gun, Robbinsville was out, and out fast. It was obvious they had a gameplan coming in, to get out fast and at the front. By the first turn back through the crowd, they had a substantial lead on NCSSM and others. Lake Norman Charter suffered from a slow start off the line and was never really in the race as they had hoped to be.

In the end, Robbinsville placed 4 in the top 12 overall and for scoring purposes that was 4 in the top 10. Their 5th came in at 23rd, 20th for points. This gave them a 41 point total with Science and Math scoring 55 for 2nd overall.

The individual race was never really in doubt, as Matus Kriska of Mount Airy repeated as the state champ. His win wasn't dominating, as Tyler Massey of Robbinsville was able to close the gap on him over the last mile a bit. Matus owns quite a resume now of state titles and will most likely add to it during the track season. Last year, Matus was able to run quite well at Foot Locker, so look for him to once again peak in late November.

The battle for 2nd place was a good one, as there were about 5 guys in the mix. After the 2nd mile, Massey was able to pu a move on the rest of the group and pull away to earn a solid 2nd for his Robbinsville team.

2A Girls:
The Carrboro girls also came in as the favorites, like their boys, and they proved they were the class of the field. Carrboro put their top 5 in the top 15: 1st, 7th, 10th, 14th, & 15th! This was a dominating team performance to win another state title. Grace Morken led the way with her first place finish, finally taking the top spot coming off the final turn. The bad news for the rest of the teams in 2A . . . Carrboro doesn't appear to lose anyone going forward. This is a team that simply continues to improve with a young, core group of girls.

Carrboro scored 38 points for the win, while 2nd place North Lincoln scored 98.

Early on, it was Laney Browder of Wilkes Central, who set the pace. She developed a solid 5 second lead early on as Morken and Savannah Fornshell of North Lincoln lingered in the background. Morken was running alone for a lot of race, but by mile two, Fornshell had caught up to her and they were running together. Still a close race, there were a number of girls in the mix: Aleisha Reece of Madison, Mary Frith of Owen, Laney Browder of Wilkes Central, & Michelle Provost of Smoky Mountain. Morken opened up just enough of a gap by the final turn to hold onto to the lead down the final stretch, as she won 19:28 to 19:34 over Fornshell.

The North Lincoln girls popped onto the scene in late October and proved to be a very solid team in their own right. They also return their top 7, so be on the lookout for these girls next year. They should definitely start the season ranked #2 behind Carrboro.

1A Girls:
Like last year where she won by over 1:00, this was the Carol Blankenship show. Carol simply ran away from the field like it was nothing. This East Wilkes athlete ran 18:48 to win over Tacey Trammel of Robbinsville, 19:36. The individual race wasn't too excited for the top two, as these two athletes stayed in their spots throughout the entire race. However, behind them, there was a battle for the next spots. Finally grabbing the 3rd spot of Kristin Stout of Hendersonville. Stout made a big move over the final mile to almost catch Trammel, but simply ran out of room.

This was another race in which the team title was up in the air. During the season, three teams were ranked #1: Gray Stone Day, Lake Norman Charter, & Hendersonville. These teams each beat one another, so it was very difficult to tell who was the top team. If you watched the race, it was very difficult to tell who the top team was during the 1A girls race, too. At the awards, it was announced, "this was a very close race . . . very close." Once the 4th through 10th teams were announced, all three teams were anxiously awaiting to hear who was 3rd overall.

"The top three teams were separated by 5 points." Then a big sigh seemed to echo through the crowd, knowing it was anyone's title. The first team announced was Gray Stone Day, for third place.

"The top 2 teams were separated by 2 points." Another sigh across the fans.

When Lake Norman Charter was announced as the 2nd place team, Hendersonville knew they had won possibly the closest 1A state title in meet history. As Hendersonville stood on the stage, one thing that I noticed was they had only one senior, and that was Stout. This could be a good team in the future. Because the race was so close, let's look at the scoring.

Hendersonville
#1 - 3
#2 - 8 (11)
#3 - 18 (29)
#4 - 19 (48)
#5 - 20 (68)

Lake Norman Charter
#1 - 4
#2 - 9 (13)
#3 - 15 (28)
#4 - 17 (45)
#5 - 25 (70)

Gray Stone Day
#1 - 11
#2 - 12 (23)
#3 - 13 (36)
#4 - 16 (52)
#5 - 21 (73)