CARRBORO TAKES BOTH 2-A CROSS COUNTRY CROWNS;HENDERSONVILLE, ROBBINSVILLE PREVAIL IN 1-A
KERNERSVILLE —Carrboro ran to both the men’s and the women’s team titles in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 2-A cross country championships at Beeson Park on Saturday.
Led by individual champion Grace Morken, Carrboro won its second consecutive women’s crown in convincing fashion, tallying 38 points and having five of its runners among the top 12 scoring participants. Morken, a sophomore, had a winning time of 19:28.56, just under six seconds ahead of North Lincoln’s Savannah Fornshell.
North Lincoln was second in the team standings with 95, followed by Salisbury (132) and Pittsboro Northwood (134).
The Carrboro men had a tighter team race, with the Jaguars scoring 80 points to 104 for second place East Lincoln. Brevard was third with 153 and Hillsborough Cedar Ridge placed fourth with 159 points.
Northwood senior Eric Williams was the men’s 2-A individual champ in 16:26.36, just over three seconds ahead of Travis Alfaro of Lincolnton.
Matus Kriska of Mount Airy, who dominated his regional competition last weekend, won the men’s 1-A individual crown for the second straight year. His winning time of 16:19.50 was just over four seconds ahead of Tyler Massey of Robbinsville in second place.
Massey helped lead Robbinsville to the 1-A men’s team title with 41 points, 14 ahead of Durham’s North Carolina School of Science and Math. Lake Norman Charter (81) and Hayesville (137) followed in the standings.
In a very tight women’s 1-A battle, Hendersonville (68) prevailed over Lake Norman Charter (70) and Misenheimer Gray Stone Day (73), with Kernersville Bishop McGuinness in fourth with 99 points.
East Wilkes senior Carol Blankenship was the first-place finisher among the 1-A women for the second consecutive year in 18:48.75, a whopping 47 seconds faster than Tacey Trammell of Robbinsville.
The town of Kernersville is among the local sponsors for the cross-country championships. Other local sponsors include Greensboro Orthopaedic, Holiday Inn Express, Kernersville Running Club, OffnRunning Sports, Abbotts Creek Apartments, Chick-Fil-A, Kernersville News, S&R Motor Company and Visit Winston-Salem.
