1-A,2-A CHAMPIONSHIPS

OWEN WINS THIRD STRAIGHT MEN’S 2-A TEAM TITLE

CLEMMONS — Black Mountain Charles D. Owen High School won its third North Carolina High School Athletic Association men’s 2-A cross-country championship in action at Tanglewood Park on Saturday.

Owen tallied 56 points to 76 for runner-up West Henderson, while Orange was back in third at 145. Josey Weaver of Madison was the individual champ as the senior covered the course in 16:19.74, almost seven seconds ahead of sophomore Mark Sullivan of Cardinal Gibbons.

Heather Beichner of Cardinal Gibbons led her team to a convincing victory in the 2-A women’s competition, winning in a time of 18:48.58 as her team tallied a NCHSAA women’s championship record low of 21 points. Durham School of the Arts was second at 83 and West Henderson third at 173. Gibbons runners took five of the top seven positions among individuals scoring for their teams.

Beichner successfully defended her individual crown and beat runner-up Sarah Willingham of North Henderson by almost 28 seconds.

Daniel Kimmel of the North Carolina School of Science and Math in Durham won the men’s 1-A title in a time of 17:12.00, less than two seconds ahead of teammate Cameron Cook. But East Wilkes was the team champ with 94 points to 97 for Misenheimer Gray Stone Day and 102 for NCSSM.

Sophomore Zatha Loewen of Topsail won her second consecutive individual title in a time of 19:38.69, leading her team to a five-point decision over runner-up Kernersville Bishop McGuinness. Topsail had 67 points to 72 for Bishop McGuinness and Hendersonville was third with 94 points. Four-time defending champion Hayesville wound up fourth at 98 points.

3-A. 4-A CHAMPIONSHIPS

HILL, GILLAND, SPANO EACH REPEAT AS NCHSAA CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONS

CLEMMONS — Senior Ryan Hill of Hickory won his third consecutive North Carolina High School Athletic Association individual men’s 3-A cross-country championship in action at Tanglewood Park on Saturday.

Hill covered the course in 15:30.75, almost 19 seconds ahead of runner-up Patrick Campbell of Mooresville. However, the Mooresville team effort, with five runners among the first 18 in the team scoring, enabled the Blue Devils to take the team title with 56 points to 63 for second-place Asheville. Pfafftown Ronald Reagan was third with 111.

The women’s team from Asheville T.C. Roberson won its fourth consecutive NCHSAA 3-A title in convincing fashion, with 31 points to 105 for Reagan and 107 for Asheville. Senior Lindsey Ester of Burlington Williams beat two-time defending individual champ Caroline Kirby of T.C. Roberson to the finish by just over three seconds to take top individual honors.

In 4-A, Chapel Hill’s Taylor Gilland in the men’s field and North Mecklenburg’s Kim Spano among the women each earned their second consecutive individual crowns.

Gilland, a junior, won by a slim 0.57 seconds over Raleigh Enloe’s Nick Graw. Raleigh Broughton captured the men’s team title with 81 points to 101 for Enloe in second and Morrisville Green Hope in third with 114 points.

Spano’s winning margin over the runner-up, Apex’s Andie Cozzarelli, was just over 11 seconds. Chapel Hill’s women took the 4-A team title for the third consecutive year with 85 points to 123 for second-place Charlotte Myers Park. Fayetteville Terry Sanford was third at 133.