By Ryan Bisesi
rbisesi@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY – It was business as usual Tuesday in the Central Carolina Conference cross country world.
It was a beautiful day at Dan Nicholas Park and runners broke through the pack and trampled the fallen leaves.
Those in front would have been Central Davidson’s.
The Spartans remained the standard in the CCC by winning the boys and girls championships. Central’s boys won for the fifth year in a row with the girls taking their second consecutive crown.
“We were hoping to win the conference on the boys side,” Central coach Greg Peters said. “On the girls side, us and West Davidson have battled all year. We’re very happy with what happened today.”
The CD boys had the top six finishes with junior Derek Chavis leading the way to a 16:58, a personal best, to win CCC Runner of the Year. He dusted the rest of the field by over a minute.
“My goal was to break 17 minutes,” Chavis said. “This course is quick, flat and a perfect course to break it. I wanted to come in here and get a win for my team.”
Chavis said he ran the first mile slow for his standards and picked up in the final two.
“I looked at my watch and I was running slow,” Chavis said.
“He kind of runs up there by himself and doesn’t have anyone to push him,” Peters said. “I told him he’s got to go out there and not slow down that third mile.”
CD’s Alex Walker, Thomas Gobble, Zeb Stewart and Alec Rhodes rounded out the top five. Tyler Oldaker finished sixth for the Spartans, who finished with 15 points. Walker, Gobble and Stewart all finished with 18:12’s..
West Davidson (74) was second and East Davidson third (82). Salisbury (87) and Thomasville (106) rounded out the field.
Salisbury’s Max Patel was the first Hornet to finish in 19:11 to place 13th. The top 12 runners were named All-Conference. Elsewhere for Salisbury, Matt Washko was 14th, Kevin Kondek was 19th and Will Murdoch 20th.
Central’s Alex Crook, Thomasville’s Enrique Solis, and West Davidson’s Logan Herman and Caleb Bauguess finisehd sixth through 10th.
“A lot of our girls had PR’s today and a lot of our boys did too,” Peters said. “This time of the year kids step it up a notch.”
West Davidson’s Callie Wynn won the girls race in 19:12. She was in first for the majority of the race.
“The first mile I went really fast,” Wynn said. “The last mile I slowed down a little bit. I like this course because it’s really flat.”
Jordan Chavis from CD was the runner up in 19:42, her personal best. CD’s Ali Bowen placed third while Paige Chavis and Skyler Briggs were sixth and seventh. CD finished with 29 points. West was second with 40. East (78) placed third and Salisbury (81) fourth.
Salisbury’s Katelyn Storey finished in fifth place in 20:48 before heading back to school for a National Honor Society meeting.
“For this season it’s my best time,” Storey said. “The course felt the best it has all season. I moved up a couple spots after the first mile. I was in third for a while.”
Salisbury’s Susannah Dixon placed ninth in 21:31.