KERNERSVILLE, NC – The Lincoln Charter men’s team won the group’s third straight 1A Men’s Cross Country State Championship, blowing by second place Community School of Davidson 55-112. On the women’s side, Thomas Jefferson runners edged Pine Lake Prep 88-97 to win the program’s first team state title.
Franklin Academy’s Aaron Rovnak brought home top individual honors on the men’s side. His time of 16:47.65 was a touch slower than his title run last year, but still good enough for his second straight individual state championship. He finished comfortably ahead of Corvian Community’s Jacob Fiorillo who crossed in 17:08.68.
The women’s individual title went to Lauren Tolbert from Highland Tech. Tolber sped to the finish line in 19:15.05, narrowly edging Briley Bickerstaff from Riverside-Martin who crossed on her heels at 19:16.96. Tolbert is the first runner from Highland Tech to win the individual race at the State Cross Country Meet and set a new 1A Meet Record for the course at Ivey Redmon Park.
Thomas Jefferson women were led by senior Kilia Hasty who finished seventh overall with a time of 20:37.05, a mark good enough for fourth in the team competition. The Gryphons top five averaged 21:57.90 to complete the course at Ivey Redmon Complex while second-place Pine Lake Prep’s top five averaged 22:04.56.
The Lincoln Charter men showed outstanding depth to capture their third straight 1A team championship. The Eagles compiled an average time of 18:02.65 with all five scoring runners crossing in the top 20 individuals. Senior Cutler Law was the first to cross the line for Lincoln Charter, finishing in seventh overall at 17:35.38.
The NCHSAA is proud to highlight outstanding sportsmanship and annually presents the NC Farm Bureau Sportsmanship Awards at each NCHSAA State Championship event. One member of the top two mens and womens teams are selected for the annual Cross Country Award. This year’s winners for the 1A women’s meet were Laurie Griffith from Thomas Jefferson Classical and Ashley Jones from Pine Lake Prep. The winners on the 1A men’s side were Jaden Love from Lincoln Charter and Brayden Jenks from Community School of Davidson.
