Carson regional runner-up Eric Gillis.

Staff report

SALISBURY — Carson’s Jorge Clemente-Garcia set a blistering pace in the 3AA Midwest Regional conducted at Salisbury Community Park on Saturday.

Clemente-Garcia ran 16:01 on a hilly course that is considered among the toughest high school runners encounter during the season. The only one who could keep him in sight was teammate Eric Gillis.

Gillis took second place in 16:10.

Those two have been at the top of the leaderboards in races all season.

The top four teams qualified for the 3A State Championships that will be held at Kernersville’s Ivey Redmon Park on Nov. 2.

Atkins (78) and Parkwood (78) pace the team scoring, with Atkins holdin the edge on the sixth-runner tiebreaker. Oak Grove (86) and CATA (143) also qualified their teams for the state event.

West Rowan (165), Carson (175) and South Rowan (177) placed fifth, sixth and seventh in the team scoring. East Rowan (264) was 11th. Nineteen schools were able to post team scores.

The top seven individuals not on a qualifying team advance to the state meet. Joining Clemente-Garcia and Gillis in Kernersville will be South Rowan’s Ethan Overby (16th, 17:51) and West Rowan’s Luke Henson (17th, 17:52).

Robinson’s Chase Tompkins finished sixth in 16:46.

Other Rowan runners in the top 30 were South’s Davis Kemp (22nd, 18:02) and West’s Jonathan Medina (25th, 18:06).