By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

KERNERSVILLE — A year ago, South Rowan junior Madison Lowery’s best 5K time was 22:45.

On Saturday in the 2A State Championships at Ivey Redmon Sports Complex, Lowery ran a career-best of 19:33. She placed 10th, adding All-State honors to her victories in the Rowan County Championships and the Central Carolina Conference Championships.

“She was 12th and still a pretty distant 12th coming to those last 800 meters,” South Rowan coach Robert Marchinko said. “But she was fantastic for those 800 meters.”

Lowery had never broken 20 minutes prior to Saturday, but she shattered her PR on a course with a lot of hills and a lot of sandy areas.  She was seeded 18th coming into the race.

“I’ve been preaching to Madison she could do  something like this,” Marchinko said. “She’s starting to believe in herself, and now she’s taking off. This can be a breakthrough day for her.”

•••

South Rowan freshman Noah Julian represented the Raiders with distinction in the 2A boys race.

Seeded 53rd, based on previous times, he finished 36th in 17:14.

“It was a PR for him, and it’s great when any kid can PR in state competition,” Marchinko said. “Noah is so young, and this was his first time at this level. He handled himself really well.”

•••

Salisbury’s girls were the only qualifying team from Rowan. They finished 15th in the 2A girls race.

“It was a good day to run as far as the temperature, but there was wind to deal with and some drizzle,” Salisbury coach Sallie Pittman said. “The girls ran well. I couldn’t have been any prouder of how  they competed.”

Sophomore Leah Cressler led the Hornets.She ran 21:10 and finished 51st. Junior Ellen Simons was 54th in 21:12. Senior Mary Kaufmann ran 21:25 and was 71st.

“Mary led us in the regional, but today Leah accepted the challenge and was back in front,” Pittman said. “It was a little more of our normal order of finish today, but Mary’s last race was still  a really good one. When you PR in the state championships — you can’t finish your career any better than that.”

Sophomore Anna Grace Woolly was the Hornets’ fifth runner with a PR of 23:26. The fourth runner was German exchange student Freya Obermueller, who lives with the Woollys. She ran 23:01.

Also competing for the Hornets were senior Anna Patel and freshman Sarah Flack. Flack keeps improving and ran 28:34. Patel went out with a PR on the biggest stage. She broke 30 minutes for the first time in the regional. Saturday, she ran 27:16.

“We’ve qualified for the state meet two years in a row, and that’s an accomplishment we’ll never take for granted, especially as tough as our regional was this year,” Pittman said. “I’m happy for these girls. I’m glad we were able to finish the season so well.”

•••

Carson sophomore Taylor Conrad ran 20:18 in the 3A girls race and finished 56th.

Carson’s Taylor Wiggins, the county’s top runner in 2016, qualified for the state meet but has been battling injuries and did not run on Saturday.

West Rowan freshman Megyn Spicer ran 21:31 in her first state meet.

•••

East Rowan senior Sean Incardona, the county champion, ran 17:00 in the 3A Championships and was 51st.

A.L. Brown senior Brandon Hernandez ran with the leaders most of the 3A boys race and placed fourth in 15:54.17.

West Rowan junior Thomas Waldo was 79th in 17:20.

•••

In the 4A boys race, Davie County’s Clay Summers ran 17:09 and was 85th.

In the 4A girls race,  Davie’s Emerson Frantz was 47th in 19:49.

Salisbury has been playing football more than 100 years, but it will encounter Red Springs High for the first time on Friday in the first round of the 2A state playoffs.