Staff report
STATESVILLE – Carson’s Kyle Gillis won the individual championship in Wednesday’s NPC Cross Country Meet at Statesville’s MacAnderson Park, but East Rowan’s boys continued their team dominance.
East has won four straight titles.
“We lost a lot of seniors, but we had young guys step in,” East coach Rick Roseman said.
East posted a score of 27, with Conor Honeycutt (2nd, 16:05), Cal Meyers (fourth, 16:22), Jason Basso (sixth, 16:47), Justin Allen (seventh, 16:55) and Graham Lyerly (eighth, 16:55) leading the way. East’s sixth and seventh runners, Chance Brown (ninth) and Jason Troutman (12th) made All-NPC. It was the fourth straight year East has had seven All-NPC runners.
The top 14 runners were designated all-conference.
Gillis, sixth in the event in 2011, ran a sizzling 15:55 to lead Carson to a second-place finish. Zach Marchinko (third, 16:11), Nick Thornton (13th), Isaac Spencer (14th) and Dylan Snider (15th) led the Cougars, who posted a score of 46
Sparked by Cody McNeely’s fifth-place finish (16:35), West Rowan (76) placed third. West’s Todd Gabriel was 11th.
Angel Ruiz placed 10th and led South Rowan (127) to a fourth-place showing.
East will compete in the Midwest Regional at McAlpine Park on Oct. 27. Based on rankings, seven of the top 10 teams in 3A will be in that regional.
“Our kids are excited about competing,” Roseman said. “Their times keep dropping. It’s a tough regional, but if you make the top four there, you’re going to place high in the state.”
East placed fourth in the regional and sixth in the state in 2011.
• West Rowan’s Rebecca Parker, who was runner-up in 2011, won the girls individual title and also led the Falcons to the team championship.
Parker’s winning time was 20:19. She nipped East Rowan’s Faith Blume by two seconds.
West’s team score was 40. Josie Heglar (third, 20:53), Hannah Allison (seventh, 21:49), Sammie Brassard (eighth, 21:50) and Emily Goddard (21st) scored for the Falcons.
East’s score was 42. Other East scorers were Tori Gaul (fourth, 21:01), Leah Bumby (ninth), Haley Lyerly (11th) and Karlie Neigel (16th).
Carson (88) finished third. Kenzy Bauer (13th), Sarah Safrit (14th), Kylie Cox (15th) and Cierra Josey (17th) led the Cougars.
South Rowan (165) was sixth. Casey Pruitt (19th) led the Raiders.