CLEMMONS– Sweeps highlighted Saturday’s action at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state cross-country championships, as three of the classifications saw the same school sweep team titles in both men’s and women’s competition.
Chapel Hill captured both 4-A titles, Asheville T.C. Roberson successfully defended both of its 3-A crowns and Hayesville earned the men’s and women’s 1-A team championships.
In 2-A, Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons ran away with the women’s title while Black Mountain Charles D. Owen was the men’s champion.
Senior Jack Bolus of Chapel Hill won the individual 4-A men’s championship and led the Tigers to victory, crossing the finish line in 15:33.10, just over five seconds ahead of Raleigh Broughton’s Sandy Roberts, the defending champion.
Chapel Hill’s men nipped Southern Pines Pinecrest by a single point for the team championship, 69-70, with Charlotte Myers Park back in third at 128.
In the 4-A women ‘s race, Chapel Hill tallied 60 points to outdistance runner-up Charlotte Providence by 27. North Mecklenburg placed third with 124.
Junior Callan Fike of Raleigh Athens Drive was the 4-A women ‘s champion, winning by about 22 seconds over Apex’s Andie Cozzarelli.
T.C. Roberson took a pair of convincing victories in the 3-A classification. Roberson’s women tallied 33 points to 125 for first-year school Winston-Salem Reagan, in second place. Charlotte Catholic was third with 130. Roberson won the men’s title with 38 points to 129 for runner-up Catholic with R-S Central in third at 149.
Sophomore Ryan Hill of Hickory won the men’s 3-A individual title in a time of 16:19.07, just over five seconds ahead of Jonathan Sunde of Charlotte Catholic. Sophomore Caroline Kirby of Roberson led her team to the state crown with a winning time of 19:15.85.
Cardinal Gibbons dominated in the 2-A women’s race, scoring 27 points to 122 for second-place Wilkes Central with four finishers among the top 11 runners.. West Henderson was third with 136. Senior Tria Metzler of Bunn was the individual champ in a time of 19:19.11.
The 2-A men’s competition saw Owen tally 65 points to win by a 25-point margin over Surry Central and Reidsville. Surry Central senior Miguel Ocampo successfully defended his individual crown in 16:09.36.
Hayesville scored its third straight 1-A women’s title, with the Yellow Jackets’ 61 points just two ahead of Polk County. Sophomore Elizabeth Eliot of Polk won her second straight individual title in 20:36.33.
In the 1-A men’s classification, Hayesville had 53 points to 89 for second-place South Stokes and 112 for Murphy in third.
Sam Brinson of South Stokes was the individual champ among the 1-A men, winning by just over 13 seconds over Avery’s Trevor Brown.