By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

GRANITE QUARRY — Three decades ago, East Rowan head coach Rick Roseman could deploy a virtual army of cross country runners.

The late Ed Dupree’s Faith Flyers youth track program had something to do with that.

From 1987-95, the Mustang boys won nine straight Rowan County team cross country championships, peaking with perfect 15s — that’s a 1-2-3-4-5 finish — in 1990 and 1991.

From 1989-94, East males not only took six straight individual county championships, five different Mustangs were winners. Benjamin Frick won twice.

That’s amazing program depth.

Scott Julian and Jonathan Featherstone weren’t generals in that Mustang army, they were more like sergeants, but they were good runners and they helped East win a lot of championships.

They learned how to run and learned to love to run, and that would be important as Rowan County cross country history unfolded because apparently there’s a cross country gene.

East’s girls were at least as strong as the East boys in the early 1990s. From 1987-99, a 13-season span, the Mustangs won 12 Rowan County team championships.

There were a number of outstanding runners, including back-to-back individual champs Allison Dupree and Jennifer Williams near the end of the run, but the best of them all was Rebekah Frick.

Benjamin Frick’s twin sister, she three-peated as Rowan County individual champ from 1990-92 and had some fantastic clockings. She finished third in the 3A State Championships as a freshman, second as a sophomore, and won the state title as a junior in 19:18, a time that was a 3A state meet record. A knee injury wrecked Frick’s senior year, but her place in county history was secure.

Julian and Rebekah Frick were high school sweethearts at East. They got married and the boys that came from that happy union were South Rowan graduate Noah Julian, a three-time county champion, and South Rowan senior Eli Julian, another three-time county champion. The girl, Hope Julian, is an eighth-grader and a natural runner that you’re going to be hearing a lot about.

Featherstone’s daughters, Jadyn and Sadie, haven’t been record-breakers for East Rowan, but they are competitive, perennial all-county runners. Sadie had a breakthrough junior season and won the Rowan County championship.

Eli Julian and Sadie Featherstone are the Post’s runners of the year, so Coach Roseman can take a bow.

Rebekah Frick Julian, who coached South Rowan’s girls to the team county team championship, can take a bow as Rowan County Coach of the Year, along with Zachary Marchinko, who guided Carson’s boys to county, conference and regional championships and third place in 3A.

One more note in the small-world category, Rebekah Frick Julian and Jonathan Featherstone are both graduates of N.C. State’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

 

All-Rowan County boys cross country (top 12 in county meet)

South Rowan — Eli Julian, Grayson Cromer, Ethan Overby, Brian Hickman

Carson — Jorge Clemente-Garcia, Bricen Burleson, Eric Gillis, James Anderson, Connor Price, Chance Simmons

West Rowan — Ethan Wilson

Salisbury — Abdul Eliwa

Runner of the Year — Eli Julian, South Rowan

Coach of the Year — Zachary Marchinko, Carson

 

All-Rowan County girls cross country (top 12 in county meet)

East Rowan — Sadie Featherstone, Iyanna Lynch Berry, Jadyn Featherstone

Carson — Emily Landaverde, Julia Burleson, Lainey Barger

West Rowan — Katie Roberts

South Rowan — Madison Beaver, Madalynn Gulledge, Blythe Elliott, Gracie Hinson, Lindsey Beaver

Runner of the Year — Sadie Featherstone, East Rowan

Coach of the Year — Rebekah Frick Julian, South Rowan