Staff report

KERNERSVILLE — South Rowan junior Eli Julian successfully defended his 3A Midwest Regional cross country championship on Saturday and led the Raiders’ team to a second-place finish behind Atkins.

Julian ran 16:11,81.

South’s team score (top five runners) was 89. Atkins scored 78.

South, coached by Tyler Downs, is headed back to next week’s state championships, which also will be contested at Ivey Redmon Park in Kernersville.

Backing Julian in the team scoring were Bricen Burleson (11th), Aaron Jones (21st), Grayson Cromer (24th) and Mateo Diaz Ruiz (34th).

Top individuals not on qualifying teams also make it to the state event.  Leading Rowan individuals included Carson’s Jorge Clemente-Garcia (7th) and James Anderson (14th). West Rowan’s Ethan Wilson placed 12th.

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In the 3A girls regional race, Carson’s Makayla Borst once again led Rowan female runners.

Borst placed fifth individually in 20:51. Carson’s Emily Landaverde was 10th in 21:44.

Carson was sixth to lead Rowan teams. Lake Norman Charter won the regional.

Other leading Rowan individuals were West’s Katie Roberts (11th), South’s Madison Beaver (12th) and Blythe Elliott (18th) and East’s Sadie Featherstone (13th) and Iyanna Lynch Berry (16th).

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In the 2A Midwest Regional held at Fisher River Park in Dobson, the top Salisbury runners were Christyonna Lewis (25th) for the girls and Abdul Eliwa (35th) for the boys. Both are freshmen.

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J.P. Bautista (50th) and Emily Karmonocky (65th) were the top A.L. Brown runners in the 4A Midwest Regional in Kernersville.

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In the 1A Midwest Regional, Gray Stone’s girls were second. Georgia Sangster ran 21:09 to lead the Knights. She place second individually.