SCHOOLS

By Adam Powell
Correspondent

Men’s and women’s cross country teams from Carrboro, East Chapel Hill, and Chapel Hill High Schools traveled to the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville last week for the NCHSAA State Cross Country Championships.

Carrboro’s women’s team came away with the state championship in North Carolina’s 4A ranks, while East Chapel Hill’s men’s and women’s teams both came away with top five finishes at the 6A state championship meet. In addition, Chapel Hill’s men’s and women’s teams recorded top ten finishes in the uber-competitive 7A class.

Take a closer look at all of the action from this past weekend’s state championship cross country meets featuring local schools from Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

CARRBORO JAGUARS

Jaguars women’s cross country wins state title, men’s team places second

Coming off Carrboro High School’s incredible performance at the NCHSAA women’s tennis state championships – placing two players in the state championship match and getting a doubles team to the championship match – Carrboro’s women’s cross country team decided it needed to bring another state championship trophy to the school this fall.

So that’s exactly what the Jaguars did. Making their way to the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville for the NCHSAA 4A state championship meet last week, the Jaguars narrowly edged past Lake Norman Charter and West Stokes to win the team state championship despite placing just one runner in the individual top ten.

It was truly a team effort for the Jaguars, as a pack of three CHS runners recorded top 15 finishes to go alongside one top 10 finish. And in a heroic effort, one Carrboro runner gave it her all to place in the top 35, which proved to be just enough to put the Jaguars over the hump to prevail in the state championship points battle against Lake Norman Charter.

Junior Presley Pyne had the top individual performance for the Jaguars, as she placed 10th with a time of 19 minutes, 53.94 seconds. From there, senior Alora Honeycutt placed 13th for the Jaguars (19 minutes, 57.62 seconds), while freshman Amelie Reyes placed 14th (20 minutes, 3.41 seconds), and fellow ninth grader Elena Rappold placed 15th (20 minutes, 8.01 seconds).

While Pyne, Honeycutt, Reyes, and Rappold gave Carrboro a chance to win the state team championship, it ultimately came down to junior Naomi Hirsch, who came in with a time of 21 minutes, 38.50 seconds to place 32nd. That result proved to be crucial for Carrboro, as Hirsch bested Lake Norman Charter’s Diaanah Racziu by nearly 20 seconds in an outcome that wound up deciding the team scoring in Carrboro’s favor.

Other runners who competed in the state championship meet for Carrboro included senior Bella Reyes, who placed 39th (21 minutes, 59.25 seconds) in her final meet with the Jaguars, and fellow senior Lillian Lagarde, who placed 41st (22 minutes, 1.54 seconds) in her last race at CHS.

Carrboro loses only one senior from its scoring quintet at the state championships, as the Jaguars will have to replace Honeycutt. But with everyone else back, the Jaguars are optimistic they’ll have a shot at going back-to-back in 2026.

Carrboro’s men’s team added a second place statewide finish in North Carolina’s 4A ranks, as the Jaguars placed five runners in the top 30 of a 143-runner field to rank behind only state champion Brevard.

For the Jaguars, senior Benjamin Horton – competing for the final time as a Jaguar – placed eighth statewide with a time of 16 minutes, 57.44 seconds. Sophomore Carter Hunt placed 12th (17 minutes, 4.36 seconds), senior Benjamin Frederick placed 15th (17 minutes, 10.49 seconds), freshman Shane Fitzgerald placed 16th (17 minutes, 10.96 seconds), junior Henry Lerner placed 29th (17 minutes, 46.09 seconds), sophomore Elijah Branch placed 33rd (17 minutes, 53.48 seconds), and freshman Jake Vernon placed 37th (18 minutes, 0.57 seconds).

CHS narrowly missed winning a men’s state title to go along with the championship won by the Jaguars women’s team. But Brevard, with four top ten finishers, beat out the Jaguars to place first statewide.

EAST CHAPEL HILL WILDCATS

Wildcats produce top five finishes at 6A state championship races

East Chapel Hill made a strong showing of itself at the NCHSAA 6A state championship meet, with the Wildcats women’s team placing second overall, and the ECHHS men’s team placing fifth overall.

In the 6A women’s race, senior Ava Maughan had the top finish for East Chapel Hill, as she placed 11th overall in the state (19 minutes, 8.80 seconds) in her final race. Freshman Amelia Lockamy provided a glimpse of her bright future by placing 17th overall (19 minutes, 37.27 seconds), while senior Yara Sinnott placed 19th (19 minutes, 50.75 seconds) and fellow twelfth grader Katherine Hylton placed 20th (19 minutes, 51.02 seconds).

Two more East Chapel Hill freshmen – Elorie Minter and Camille Sinnott – placed in the top 30, with Minter placing 27th (20 minutes, 28.03 seconds), and Sinnott placing 28th (20 minutes, 32.56 seconds). Another ECHHS ninth grader – Norah Parnell – placed 45th (21 minutes, 2.87).

In the team scoring, East Chapel Hill recorded 82 points with four top 20 finishers, but couldn’t quite overcome Boone’s Watauga High School, who won the 6A women’s state championship with five top 22 finishers and 64 overall team points for the low score. East Chapel Hill will lose graduating seniors Maughan, Yara Sinnott, and Hylton heading into the 2026 season. But with talented young runners like Lockamy, Minter, Camille Sinnott, and Parnell returning for the next few seasons, the Wildcats should be back in the hunt for a NCHSAA 6A state title for the foreseeable future.

In the men’s race, senior Gianluca Vavalle had the top result for the Wildcats, placing 13th in North Carolina’s 6A ranks with a time of 16 minutes, 43.09 seconds. Freshman Robert Clipp placed 18th for the Wildcats (16 minutes, 50.19 seconds), while junior Rhys Lockamy placed 23rd (16 minutes, 58.01 seconds), senior Michael Pollard placed 51st (17 minutes, 40.73 seconds), freshman Norman Burian placed 78th (18 minutes, 25.47 seconds), senior Leo Fortson placed 82nd (18 minutes, 32.61 seconds), and sophomore Christopher McEntee placed 85th (18 minutes, 35.22 seconds).

In the team scoring, East Chapel Hill’s 161 team points placed fifth overall, behind state champion Asheville Reynolds, and subsequent finishers Mount Tabor, T.C. Roberson, and Asheville.

East Chapel Hill will graduate out Vavalle, Fortson, and Pollard heading into next season, but they should also be back in the hunt for a state championship next season with numerous returning standout runners. 

CHAPEL HILL HIGH TIGERS

Tigers men’s, women’s teams place in top ten at NCHSAA 7A state meet

Both the Chapel Hill High men’s and women’s cross country teams made their way to Kernersville for the NCHSAA 7A state championship meet last week. After qualifying for the state finals at the Regional meet in late October, both Tigers squads wound up finishing in the top ten in North Carolina’s 7A ranks.

The Tigers women’s team finished in sixth place overall, recording 157 team points and placing five runners in the top 55 of the 143-runner field. Sophomore Sadie Mersereau had the top result for the Tigers, placing seventh overall with a time of 18 minutes, 32.36 seconds.

In addition, tenth grader Lily O’Brien placed 22nd for the Tigers (19 minutes, 14.90 seconds), while junior Sarah Nemerovski placed 40th (19 minutes, 50.71 seconds), junior Savannah Benson placed 78th (21 minutes, 3.22 seconds), freshman Henrietta Belval placed 82nd (21 minutes, 14.22 seconds), freshman Rachel Jia placed 83rd (21 minutes, 19.31 seconds), and senior Charlotte Hallquist placed 92nd (21 minutes, 36.44 seconds).

Chapel Hill has a chance to make a rise in the 7A state leaderboard in 2026, with each of their top six scoring runners in the state championship meet having remaining prep eligibility.

Chapel Hill’s mens team, meanwhile, placed seventh at the NCHSAA 7A state championship meet, recording 225 team points and placing three top 50 runners in the 145-competitor field. Senior Jackson Ruff – racing for the final time as a Tiger in men’s cross country – placed 31st overall, recording a time of 16 minutes, 30.08 seconds. Sophomore Baxter Caress was the next CHHS runner to finish the race, producing a time of 16 minutes, 36.43 seconds to place 37th overall.

In other results for the Tigers, junior Cole Dutton placed 56th (16 minutes, 53.93 seconds), senior Noah Brinson placed 71st (17 minutes, 11.15 seconds), sophomore Owen McFee placed 79th (17 minutes, 19.86 seconds), senior Matthew Brooker placed 85th (17 minutes, 28.53 seconds), and junior Frederic Belval placed 88th (17 minutes, 33.04 seconds).

Chapel Hill will lose graduating seniors Ruff and Brooker heading into the 2026 season, but will return their remaining runners, giving the Tigers an excellent chance of competing once again among the top teams in their conference and region next fall.

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