SPORTS

By Adam Powell
Correspondent

Men’s and women’s cross country teams representing Chapel Hill High, East Chapel Hill High, and Carrboro High competed in various conference championship meets earlier this week. The Jaguars competed at the Big Seven Conference championships October 15 in Durham, while the Wildcats and Tigers also competed October 15 at the Tobacco Road Conference championship meet in Hillsborough.

CHAPEL HILL HIGH TIGERS

On September 19, members of the Chapel Hill men’s cross country team competed at the Adidas XC Challenge at the WakeMed Soccer Complex in Cary. It was a chance for the Tigers to match up against some of the top runners not only across the Triangle region, from across the entire state of North Carolina.

In the men’s 5,000 meter run finals, sophomore Baxter Caress had the top result for the Tigers, as he placed 63rd with a time of 16 minutes, 24.20 seconds in a field of 304 runners.

Senior Jackson Ruff finished 80th for the Tigers (16 minutes, 33.30 seconds), junior Cole Dutton placed 94th (16 minutes, 43.20 seconds), junior Frederic Belval placed 103rd (16 minutes, 47.80 seconds), sophomore Owen McFee placed 187th (17 minutes, 27.40 seconds), senior Matthew Brooker placed 220th (17 minutes, 46.20 seconds), sophomore Velo Guidry placed 246th (18 minutes, 6.90 seconds), and senior Elliot Harden placed 253rd (18 minutes, 11 seconds).

Chapel Hill challenged their rivals across the Tobacco Road Conference on October 15 at the conference meet in Hillsborough. The Tigers placed second overall, behind Riverside, but ahead of rival East Chapel Hill, who placed third. The Tigers had five of the top 11 finishers at the conference meet, including Dutton, who placed second overall (17 minutes, 0.90 seconds), Ruff, who placed seventh (17 minutes, 26.40 seconds), and Caress, who placed eighth (17 minutes, 30.50 seconds).

Other results for the CHHS men’s team from the October 15 Tobacco Road Conference meet included senior Noah Brinson, who placed 10th (17 minutes, 50.40 seconds), Belval, who placed 13th (17 minutes, 58.60 seconds), McFee, who placed 12th (18 minutes, 7.20 seconds), sophomore Ellis Cundiff, who placed 13th (18. Minutes, 8.30 seconds), senior Bengt Levin, who placed 16th (18 minutes, 17.60 seconds), and senior Scott Painter, who placed 20th (18 minutes, 35.60 seconds).

In the women’s race, Chapel Hill had the top two overall finishers, including individual Tobacco Road Conference champion Sadie Mersereau, a sophomore who paced a pack of 32 competing runners with a time of 19 minutes, 21.60 seconds. Mersereau’s Chapel Hill High teammate and fellow sophomore Lily O’Brien placed second in the race with a time of 19 minutes, 30.70 seconds. Junior Sarah Nemerovski also placed in the top ten for the Tigers, finishing seventh overall (20 minutes, 57.80 seconds).

Other top 20 finishers in the conference meet for the CHHS women’s team included junior Savannah Benson, who placed 11th (21 minutes, 49.50 seconds), freshman Rachel Jia, who placed 15th (21 minutes, 53.90 seconds), and senior Serena Lian, who placed 18th (22 minutes, 21.10 seconds).

The Tigers are now preparing for the NCHSAA 7A Central Regional, which is coming up October 25 in Cary.

CARRBORO JAGUARS

After appearing at the first Big Seven Conference meet back on September 16, Carrboro’s men’s cross country team appeared at the Hare & Hounds XC Invitational at McAlpine Park in Charlotte the weekend of September 19-20. Freshman Benjamin Lovelady had the top performance at that particular meet for the Jaguars, as he placed 198th overall with a time of 19 minutes, 24.10 seconds in a field of more than 400 runners. As a team, Carrboro placed 45th overall out of 58 competing schools. 

Junior Luke Stewart placed 311th for the Jags (21 minutes, 7.40 seconds), sophomore Andrew Manning placed 315th (21 minutes, 11.50 seconds), senior Nathan Lagarde placed 323rd (21 minutes, 26.80 seconds), junior Isaiah Shaw placed 388th (23 minutes, 14 seconds), and senior Michael Schwartz placed 410th (24 minutes, 1.40 seconds). 

On September 24, the Jaguars made their way to Creedmoor and South Granville High School for the next Big Seven Conference meet. The CHS men’s team placed third out of six conference rivals at the meet, while the Carrboro women’s squad placed second out of seven competing schools.

In the men’s race, the Jaguars had all five of their placing runners finish among the top 14 in a field of 66 competitors. CHS also had all five of its top placing runners in the top 20 of the women’s race, while three Jaguars finished in the top seven of the 59-runner field.

Sophomore Elijah Barach had the top finish at the Creedmoor conference meet for the Jaguars men’s team, placing eighth overall (20 minutes, 25.96 seconds). Senior Benjamin Frederick placed ninth (20 minutes, 27.30 seconds), freshman Hiroki Hasegawa placed 12th (21 minutes, 4.93 seconds), junior Henry Lerner placed 13th (21 minutes, 6.20 seconds), junior Michael Igoe placed 14th (21 minutes, 9.57 seconds), freshman Jake Vernon placed 15th (21 minutes, 12.81 seconds), senior Benjamin Horton placed 17th (21 minutes, 41.79 seconds), and freshman Shane Fitzgerald placed 18th (21 minutes, 42.56 seconds).

In the women’s race, junior Presley Pyne placed third for the Jags (22 minutes, 34.09 seconds), senior Alora Honeycutt placed fourth (22 minutes, 34.36 seconds), senior Bella Reyes placed seventh (23 minutes, 12.27 seconds), senior Lillian Lagarde placed 19th (26 minutes, 27.61 seconds), and sophomore Medhawi Regmi placed 20th (26 minutes, 33.93 seconds).

On October 4, the Jaguars appeared at the Wendy’s Invitational at McAlpine Park in Charlotte. Horton placed fourth overall for the CHS men’s team at this race (16 minutes, 40.66 seconds), while Fitzgerald placed 17th (17 minutes, 12.58 seconds), Frederick placed 27th (17 minutes, 36.20 seconds), Vernon placed 37th (17 minutes, 50.62 seconds), Barach placed 41st (17 minutes, 57.73 seconds), and junior Henry Lerner placed 42nd (18 minutes, 0.42 seconds). As a team, the Jaguars placed second overall out of 28 teams at the Charlotte meet.

On Wednesday, October 15, the Jaguars competed at the Big Seven Conference championship meet in Durham. CHS’s women’s team finished in second place out of seven competing schools – behind only conference champion Orange – while placing third in the men’s race, behind Orange and Cedar Ridge.

In the men’s race, all five of Carrboro’s placing runners finished in the top 15 of the 39-runner race. Horton placed seventh overall in the conference (17 minutes, 17.80 seconds), while sophomore Carter Hunt placed ninth (17 minutes, 39 seconds), Fitzgerald placed 10th (17 minutes, 40.50 seconds), Frederick placed 13th (18 minutes, 7.40 seconds), and Lerner placed 15th (18 minutes, 18.5 seconds). Barach added a 16th place finish (18 minutes, 20 seconds), while Vernon placed 20th (18 minutes, 41.40 seconds).

In the women’s race, Carrboro had two top five finishers, and five top 20 finishers in the 48-runner field. Honeycutt placed third overall in the conference (20 minutes, 29 seconds), while Pyne placed fourth (20 minutes, 40.30 seconds), sophomore Flynn Pasquarelli placed 12th (21 minutes, 53.10 seconds), junior Naomi Hirsch placed 16th (22 minutes, 15 seconds), and Reyes placed 17th (22 minutes, 18.20 seconds).

Carrboro will compete at the NCHSAA 4A East Regional in Rocky Mount on October 25.

EAST CHAPEL HILL WILDCATS

Like their rivals across town at Chapel Hill High, East Chapel Hill also competed at the Adidas XC Challenge in Cary on Friday, September 19, with senior Gianluca Vavalle placing 12th overall (16 minutes, 31.60 seconds) for the top finish for the Wildcats.

Junior Rhys Lockamy placed 38th (17 minutes, 6.20 seconds), freshman Robert Clipp placed 77th (17 minutes, 50.80 seconds), freshman Norman Burian placed 98th (18 minutes, 5.90 seconds), senior Michael Pollard placed 105th (18 minutes, 8.80 seconds), sophomore Christopher McEntee placed 123rd (18 minutes, 19.80 seconds), and freshman Jude Kelm placed 155th (18 minutes, 47.60 seconds).

On the first weekend in October, the Wildcats returned to the WakeMed Soccer Complex in Cary for the Great American XC Festival. It was a very solid outing for the Wildcats, as the team placed sixth overall out of 50 participating schools. In addition, the Wildcats had two runners placed in the top ten overall in a field of 435 runners, with each of their top five runners placing in the top 100.

Coming off his top 15 performance at the star-studded Adidas XC Challenge, Vavalle finished in second place overall at the Great American XC Festival, recording a time of 16 minutes, 18.80 seconds to place behind only the overall winner, senior Cillian Lyster of Washington Latin Public Charter High School.

Lockamy, who was among the top 15 percent of finishers at the Adidas XC Challenge, placed eighth overall at the Great American XC Festival (16 minutes, 42.70 seconds), while Clipp placed 60th (17 minutes, 39.80 seconds), Pollard placed 97th (18 minutes, 6.60 seconds), McEntee placed 98th (18 minutes, 7.70 seconds), Burian placed 101st (18 minutes, 10.10 seconds), senior Leo Fortson placed 121st (18 minutes, 21.70 seconds), Kelm placed 201st (19 minutes, 11.40 seconds), junior Ignacio Benzoni placed 214th (19 minutes, 22.30 seconds), and sophomore Cale Finkral placed 240th (19 minutes, 45.30 seconds).

Leading up to the conference championship meet, the Wildcats competed in another large meet on October 11, as they traveled to the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville for the Kernersville Cross Country Invitational. As a team, the Wildcats finished in fourth place overall out of 18 competing teams.

Against Vavalle and Lockamy represented the Wildcats well, as Vavalle placed 11th in a field of nearly 200 runners (16 minutes, 47.55 seconds), and Lockamy placed 18th (17 minutes, 13.65 seconds). Pollard placed 31st for the Wildcats (17 minutes, 42.65 seconds), Clipp placed 35th (17 minutes, 59.54 seconds), McEntee placed 38th (18 minutes, 6.42 seconds), and Fortson placed 40th (18 minutes, 11.94 seconds).

The East Chapel Hill women’s team also competed at the Kernersville Invitational October 11, finishing third overall out of 15 competing teams.

Wildcats senior Ava Maughan placed 12th (19 minutes, 50.51 seconds), fellow senior Yara Sinnott placed 23rd (20 minutes, 51.88 seconds), and a third twelfth grader – Katherine Hylton – placed 24th (20 minutes, 51.89 seconds). A trio of freshmen came in next for the Wildcats, as Norah Parnell placed 30th (21 minutes, 17.19 seconds), Amelia Lockamy placed 32nd (21 minutes, 21.70 seconds), and Elorie Minter placed 33rd (21 minutes, 22.22 seconds).

Following their appearance in Kernersville, the Wildcats appeared at the Tobacco Road Conference championship meet in Hillsborough on Wednesday, October 15. East Chapel Hill’s women’s team won the conference championship, while the Wildcats men’s team placed third, behind Riverside and Chapel Hill.

In the women’s race, the Wildcats had all five of its scoring runners place in the top ten. Maughan led the pack, as she finished third overall with a time of 19 minutes, 43.80 seconds. Hylton placed fifth for the Wildcats (20 minutes, 50.10 seconds), while Sinnott placed sixth (20 minutes, 55.50 seconds), Lockamy placed eighth (21 minutes, 4.10 seconds), and Minter placed ninth (21 minutes, 10.80 seconds). In addition, Parnell placed 11th (21 minutes, 33.20 seconds), and freshman Camille Sinnott placed 14th (21 minutes, 50.10 seconds) for the Wildcats.

In the men’s race, East Chapel Hill had one top ten finisher, as Lockamy finished sixth with a time of 17 minutes, 20.70 seconds. Two others – Vavalle and Clipp – placed in the top 20 for the Wildcats, as Vavalle placed 17th (18 minutes, 20.30 seconds), and Clipp placed 19th (18 minutes, 32.70 seconds).

With the conference championships now over, the Wildcats look ahead to the NCHSAA 7A Central Regional, which will be held in Cary on October 25.

Adam Powell has been a correspondent for The Local Reporter since 2023. A 2001 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Powell has served as managing editor of multiple local publications, including the News of Orange County, the Mebane Enterprise, the Caswell Messenger, and the ACC Sports Journal. Powell has won more than 20 North Carolina Press Association Awards throughout his journalism career for Excellence in Education Reporting, Excellence in Sports Columns and Features, and Excellence in Video Production. He has also been recognized by the North Carolina School Public Relations Association (NCSPRA) for Excellence in Education Writing and for his newsletters representing Rockingham County Schools and the North Carolina Cyber Academy. The author of four books. Adam currently resides in Mebane with his wife Julie and children Colt and Jenna. This reporter can be reached at:Information@TheLocal Reporter.press