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Photo Album

(Includes photos from all 8 races)

 

Meet Page with Results

 

 

Championship Recap

 

 

 

Varsity Boys

 

Video of the start:

 

 

Kai Coaxum (Cape Fear) made it to the mile mark first, at the front of a lead group of five.

Chilton Birdwhistle and Jamal Avery (Middle Creek) were right behind him, as were Daniel Killette (East Wake) and Josh Valdez (Williams).

 

 

Middle Creek's third man, Hunter Toms, trailed the front pack along with Daniel Burzlaff (Mooresville) and Zovek Chapa (Fike).

Bringing up the rear of this first chase pack was the front three of resurgent Pine Forest,

Walter Johnson, Ravon Reid, and Dakota Schaub, who were chasing Middle Creek for team position.

 

 

 

The leaders approach the two-mile mark:

 

 

Over the last mile the front group spaced out greatly, as Birdwhistle pulled away to win by 32 second, in 17:02.

Teammate Avery came in a strong second, with Valdez a bit back in third.

Toms had passed by a few of the early pacesetters as they tired in the third mile,

and he finished fourth to all but secure the team title for Middle Creek.

 

 

 

 

The next four came in rapid succession, as Johnson powered through in fifth to lead Pine Forest into a strong second place in the team scores,

while Coaxum finished sixth and Jarrett Hayes (Cleveland) finished a big climb up the leaderboard in seventh.

Burzlaff was at the tail end of that close group, well ahead of Pine Forest's Reid and Schaub.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Middle Creek had earned a solid victory, 49-65 over Pine Forest.

As it turned out, the Mustangs weren't finished for the day, either.

 

 

 

 

 

Varsity Girls

 

Video of the start:

 

 

As they approached the mile mark, eighth-grader Jennifer Stephenson (Village Christian) had taken over the lead.

She was followed closely by Vanessa Bateson (Forsyth Country Day, formerly of Mount Tabor),

while Emily Vance (Overhills) and Emilee Hensel (Middle Creek) rounded out the tight lead pack.

 

 

The chase pack was already fifty meters back, and in between the two groups were three runners:

Toni Dunn (Metrolina Christian) and teammates Brenna Kate Grass and Courtney Waterbury of Swansboro.

 

 

 

The chase pack itself was led by Nicole Brugnoli (Middle Creek), and it contained two pairs of teammates:

Julia Sloane and Maria Vanderford (Northwood) as well as Sommer Fanney and Emily Koester (Williams).

Sarah Keiser (Forsyth Country Day) and April Sherlin (Overhills) were also tucked into this group and in range of the top 10.

 

 

The leaders approach the two-mile mark:

 

 

Stephenson continued to pull away over the final mile, looking poised and confident as she legged out a 33-second win.

She definitely served notice that she will be a contender for the NCISAA 1A/2A crown.

She was followed by Bateson, Hensel, and Brugnoli, the last two giving Middle Creek a great start in the team scores.

 

 

 

 

Grass rounded out the top 5, while Fanney was hard on her heels for sixth place.

After a little gap, Dunn came in ahead of Northwood teammates Sloane and Vanderford, while Waterbury completed the top 10.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Middle Creek also took 13th, 14th, and 20th to put their entire top 5 in the top 20 overall, bringing home a second varsity trophy.

Forsyth Country Day and Northwood both scored 96 points, and were declared co-runners-up

(although technically FCD's sixth runner should have put them into second place).