’HAWKS, HUSKIES HEADLINE PRECONFERENCE MEET

Since the start of the cross country season, Brandon Miller of West Wilkes has been the safe bet to claim, once again, the boys’ Mountain Valley Athletic Conference individual title. But for the senior Miller to taste team success, he’s going to have to rely on a talented foursome of freshmen just now becoming acclimated to the rigors of the sport. And Tuesday afternoon at East Wilkes, on perhaps the most rigorous course in the area, those freshmen came through, following Miller in the top spot as the Blackhawks claimed the win in the preconference meet for the Mountain Valley Athletic Conference. Miller once again took first, just as he did last fall in the final league meet in Moravian Falls. He finished at 18:41, twenty seconds better than second-place Tafton Baker of Ashe County. That helped his Blackhawks score a seven-point victory over the Huskies. Those results also set up the potential for an exciting final meet on Oct 17, also in Ronda. Tuesday’s race was meant to get runners used to the 3.1-mile course on the East Wilkes campus, renowned around the conference and beyond for its level of difficulty. “It’s horrible,” smiled Dakota Mendenhall of Forbush when asked to describe the course. “That’s probably the worst hill I’ve raced on. It was really rocky in parts, and there was some poor footing in places.” Mendenhall, the favorite to claim this fall’s North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2A individual state title this fall, and his Falcons aren’t a part of the MVAC and ran the preconference race only as a workout. “It was a great workout,” said Mendenhall, who asked not to receive a time. “We didn’t go full-out, but this will help us as we continue to train for the rest of the season.” Making matters tougher on the runners were the warm temperatures at race time. Setting a personal record wasn’t really an option Tuesday and times reflected the difficulty of the conditions. “This was a challenging race,” said West’s Austin Triplette, who finished third (the first of West’s freshman squad) despite falling in the wooded area of the course.“It was tough to get back up to pace after falling. It took me about 80 meters before I got comfortable again.” Joining Miller and Triplette in the top 10 for the Blackhawks was Nate Hall; Dawson Osborne and Hunter Wayne came in 12th and 13th, respectively. Not everyone expected to challenge for a top-10 finish at the final race participated, however. Preston Dowell of East Wilkes was held out due to injury and Wilkes Central’s Grant Stone also did not run. That meant Nick Hartley of the Eagles was that school’s first finisher. Hartley, a sophomore preparing for the upcoming wrestling season, has improved greatly over his freshman times and came in 17th at 22:24. “I didn’t think this race was as bad as last year (at East Wilkes). They cut some of the big hill back, and it seemed a little shorter overall. My time was much better than the last time I ran this course,” said Hartley. Elkin finished third in the boys’ standings with 57 points. Next were North Wilkes (105), Starmount (118) and East Wilkes (154), with the Eagles and Alleghany failing to field full teams. Ashe County’s Mahaley Cronk won on the girls’ race with a time of 23:15. That helped her Huskies take the girls’ team competition with 38 points. Forbush came in second (59), though the next MVAC team was third-place North Wilkes with 83 points. Wilkes Central (86), East Wilkes (103) and Starmount (121) rounded out the girls’ field. No other school had a full contingent of runners. Victoria Young of the Vikings (24:51) and Kaylin Bang of the Eagles (25:26) were third and fourth, respectively, and East’s Gracie Brown was ninth at 27:25. “I want to give the glory to God for being able to be out here,” said Brown. “I think I had a pretty good run today, but we can do better as a team. I’m not sure we were as focused as we could’ve been. Hopefully, as an individual and as a group we’ll be better prepared next time.” West’s Kassidy Newton was the first Blackhawks’ finisher, at 28:24, good enough for 13th. Newton, a sophomore, didn’t run as a freshman, but is starting to thrive in 2016. “Honestly, as a freshman I didn’t know if I could run this far,” smiled Newton. “I didn’t know much about the sport. “But it’s been a lot of fun. It’s great hanging out with the girls and the guys on this team. We have a good time together, and this sport will get you in shape for just about anything else you want to do.” North’s Travis Ferguson is another athlete preparing for a later sport (baseball) with cross country. Ferguson feels he can do a better job at the final MVAC meet now that he has experience on East’s trail. “I sort of babied myself on the big hill,” said Ferguson, referring to a long stretch of the course that the Cardinals refer to as the “Holy Heifer.” “There really wasn’t much left on the course after the hill, so I think I can go faster and finish stronger next time.” Ferguson’s teammate Keaton Hincher was the top Vikings’ runner, finishing sixth with a time of 20:43. And East’s boys were paced by Isaac Barker, who came in with a finish of 23:19. Boys’ Results: 1. Brandon Miller WW 18:41; 2. Tafton Baker AC 19:01; 3. Austin Triplette WW 19:32; 4. Charles Walker EL 20:11; 5. Nathan Brown EL 20:16; 6. Keaton Hincher NW 20:43; 7. Chris Lomax EL 20:57; 8. Chandler Crawford AC 21:01; 9. Nate Hall WW 21:15; 10. Riley Richardson AC 21:28; 12. Dawson Osborne WW 21:42; 13. Hunter Wayne WW 21:58; 17. Nick Hartley WC 22:24; 20. Leo Bonilla NW 22:56; 21. Isaac Barker EW 23:19; 29. Adrian Guerrero NW 24:38; 31. Travis Ferguson NW 25:01; 33. Bobby Wiles EW 25:11; 34. Josh Roten AC 25:18; 35. Daniel McNeill WW 25:21; 37. Ben Flora WW 25:29; 38. Harrison Wilson WC 25:32; 40. Erwin Perry WW 26:29; 44. Justin Perry WC 27:03; 46. Zack Nuzzolilo WW 27:19; 47. Brayden Hall WW 27:31; 48. Dakota Parks EW 27:41; 49. Tryston Walker NW 28:09; 50. Jesse Farrington NW 28:31; 52. Justin Reavis NW 28:41; 53. Noah South NW 29:04; 58. Trevor Williams NW 29:29; 60. Josh Johnson NW 29:47; 61. Dalton Gambill EW 30:50; 62. Alex Lyons EW 31:14; 64. Matthew Anderson NW 32:26; 65. Will Hoover NW 32:54; 66. Dade Griffith WC 35:51; 69. McQue Cejka NW 41:50. Girls’ Results: 1. Mahaley Cronk AC 23:15; 2. Madisun Shore FB 23:47; 3. Victoria Young NW 24:51; 4. Kaylin Bang WC 25:26; 5. Zoe Schell AC 26:08; 6. Olivia Randolph AC 26:10; 7. Lizbet Zuniga ST 26:12; 8. Caroline Owens FB 27:18; 9. Gracie Brown EW 27:25; 10. Taylor Curry WC 27:26; 13. Kassidy Newton WW 28:24; 14. Morgan Tribble NW 28:24; 16. Carrie Lowe WC 29:05; 17. Karen Welborn NW 29:20; 18. Tessa Foster WW 30:07; 19. Lyric Ryan EW 30:23; 21. Kaylee Shelton EW 30:37; 26. Maddison Frazier WC 32:04; 27. Taylor Harold NW 32:10; 28. Anna Phillips NW 32:25; 29. Emily Phillips NW 33:44; 31. Taylor Billings EW 37:05; 33. Harley Call EW 37:32; 34. Molly Maske ST 37:53; 35. Charity Visnic WW 38:40; 37. Rose Marie Van Weston WC 40:50; 38. Ally Shumate NW 41:20; 39. Taylor Lambert WW 43:48; 40. Sarah Woolredge EW 44:12. Boys’ Team Results: 1. West Wilkes 38; 2. Ashe County 45; 3 Elkin 57; 4. North Wilkes 105; 5. Starmount 118; 6. East Wilkes 154; NS: Wilkes Central, Alleghany, Forbush. Girls’ Team Results: 1. Ashe County 38; 2. Forbush 59; 3. North Wilkes 83; 4. Wilkes Central 86; 5. East Wilkes 103; 6. Starmount 121; NS: West Wilkes, Alleghany, Elkin.

’HAWKS, HUSKIES HEADLINE PRECONFERENCE MEET

Photo Credit: Zach Colburn

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