1A MEN: Lincoln Charter wins school’s first Cross Country team title as Potter earns Polk County’s second individual win
KERNERSVILLE, NC – Polk County’s Caleb Potter ran step-for-step with Lincoln Charter’s Drew Zink, but in the end the senior Potter outstrided the junior Zink, winning the 1A Men’s Cross Country Individual State Championship by .07 seconds. Lincoln Charter cruised to the school’s first Men’s Cross Country Team Championship, with all five scoring runners finishing in the top 15 of the team race.
Potter posted a time of 16:28.16 winning Polk County’s second individual state championship in Men’s Cross Country. The first Wolverine to win an individual state title was Neil Waldron who won the 1A title at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons in 2003.
Lincoln Charter outscored Franklin Acadmey 51-85 in the team championship. The Lincoln Charter squad was led by Zink, who finished second in the individual race. Curtis Herms finished 12thoverall, 10thin the team competition, posting a time of 17:21.43. He was followed closely by a pair of teammates, Cutter Law and Jordan Hudson, who finished 14thand 15threspectively in the individual race and 12th and 13th in the team race.
2A MEN: North Lincoln goes back-to-back as Hughes grabs First Flight’s first individual victory
KERNERSVILLE, NC – North Lincoln claimed the school’s fourth Men’s Cross Country State Championship, outpacing First Flight by over 31 seconds on average. First Flight finished in second on the strength of individual race champion Zach Hughes who completed the course in 16:00.79. Hughes earned the first individual title in First Flight Men’s Cross Country History.
North Lincoln cruised to a 36-74 victory over First Flight in the team race, with an average finish time of 16:29.96. North Lincoln had three runners place in the meet’s top five as Jason Thomson led the way with a second-place time of 16:01.27. Teammate Brian Risse came in third at 16:08.37 just seven seconds back of Thomson, while Johnny Grant paced to a fifth-place 16:15.39.
3A MEN: Weddington wins third team title, East Chapel Hill’s Hotelling is first Wildcat to earn individual championship
KERNERSVILLE, NC – The Weddington Warriors blitzed to the school’s third team championship in Men’s Cross Country and first since 2015. East Chapel Hill senior George Hotelling became the first Wildcat to earn the men’s individual championship in the school’s history.
Hotelling was pushed by fellow senior from Union Pines, Ben Verchick, but Hotelling crossed the line first, pulling away late to a time of 15:46.92. Verichick crossed in 15:52.01 with Mount Tabor’s Jacob Gallant close behind in third at 15:53.00.
Weddington outscored second place Chapel Hill 50-126, with three runners finishing in the top 10 of the team race. The Warriors averaged better than 30 seconds faster than Chapel Hill, posting an average time of 16:13.72 to the Tiger’s 16:44.10. Nate Jaster was the fastest Warrior, finishing in fifth in the individual race with a time of 15:54.06. Will Mazur and Kyle Durham from Weddington were in 11thand 12th individually, posting times of 16:13.86 and 16:17.18 respectively.
4A MEN: Cary sweeps behind Idhammar individual title
KERNERSVILLE, NC – Anton Idhammar strode to a four-second win in the individual championship helping his team hold off Green Hope 70-76 for the school’s first Men’s Cross Country State Team Championship.
Idhammar outlasted Millbrook’s Nickolas Scudder as the two seniors sprinted to the finish just four seconds apart. Idhammar crossed in 15:45.12 to take the top spot and become the second individual in Cary Men’s Cross Country history to win the individual state championship. Bakri Abushouk was the first individual champion from Cary, winning the title back in 2011 at Beeson Park in Kernersville.
Cary also got top ten finishes from another pair of seniors. Brian Picone finished in fourth overall, posting a time of 15:52.69. Jackson Martin brought home 10thplace for the Imps, churning to a time of 15:58.51.
