By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Peering from behind hot pink sunglasses, Watauga’s Annabelle Stewart was all smiles following her No. 1 finish in the Senior Girls division of the Clash of the Classes cross country festival. Meanwhile, the Pioneers’ Will Bradbury had little trouble in the Senior Boys race, crushing the field by more than 30 seconds.
Stewart crossed the finish line of the 2-mile course at the State Farm Intramural Fields in 12:22.77, a little less than six seconds ahead of No. 2 Kaely Patterson of Hough High School. They were followed by top student athletes from West Forsyth, Ardrey Kell, North Buncombe, Providence Day and West Henderson
The Senior Boys race was the last of the day, finishing at roughly 1:30 p.m. Afterwards, Bradbury spoke with High Country Sports.
“I felt pretty good today,” said the Watauga senior and veteran distance runner. “I was out there by myself pretty much the whole race but I was able to stay pretty much mentally engaged. It was my first real race this season so there is a lot to be worked on, but overall I am pretty happy to get the season started with this race.”
Muddy conditions proved a bit of a challenge.
“I’d say that for about a tenth of a mile on this starting and finishing loop it was (muddy) like you are jogging and there is nothing you could really do about it,” recalled Bradbury. “Even though it is not that long of a section, it definitely takes a lot of momentum out of your running.”
Bradbury finished No. 5 at the North Carolina state meet a year ago, as a junior, and said of his goals for the year, “Just to get back to compete at the state level again,” he said. “I did pretty well at the state championship last year and I would certainly like to replicate that performance this year, if not do even better. This was a big confidence boost, heading into the season.”
Top Senior Girls Finishers
1 555 Stewart, Annabelle 12 Watauga 12:22.77
2 205 Patterson, Kaely 12 Hough, William A 12:28.36
3 635 Serang, Lulu 12 West Forsyth 12:35.24
4 81 Hohenberger, Reese 12 Ardrey Kell 13:12.43
5 361 Banks, Sophia 12 North Buncombe 13:29.45
6 377 Adams, Ashlyn 12 Providence Day School 13:31.96
7 665 Houlihan, Noelle 12 West Henderson 13:36.57
8 662 Clonch, Lauren 12 West Henderson 13:43.19
9 330 Gschnell, Annika 12 Mooresville 13:43.69
10 256 Panichella, Eisabella 12 Lake Norman 13:46.89
11 154 Lewis, Kerigan 12 Daniel Boone High School 13:56.39
12 211 Wiechers, Abigail 12 Hough, William A 14:08.04
13 636 Siebert, Chloe 12 West Forsyth 14:11.82
14 92 Thornton, Evie 12 Ardrey Kell 14:52.10
15 668 Madera, Alysia 12 West Henderson 14:59.10
16 248 Gamble, Isabel 12 Lake Norman 15:14.83
17 336 Rockness, Karli 12 Mooresville 15:23.70
18 367 Wilson, Brayden 12 North Buncombe 15:27.57
19 12 Plocica, Anna 12 A.C. Reynolds 15:31.06
20 537 Llibre, Mia Grace 12 Watauga 15:34.52
21 159 Riddle, Rain 12 Daniel Boone High School 15:35.50
22 34 Fongemy, Megan 12 A.L. Brown 15:40.43
23 91 Steh, Kyra 12 Ardrey Kell 15:56.18
24 86 McAnally, Lillian 12 Ardrey Kell 16:09.14
25 383 Li, Stephanie 12 Providence Day School 16:25.34
26 672 Ruzich, Sophie 12 West Henderson 16:41.03
27 326 Anderson, Linnea 12 Mooresville 16:50.03
28 207 Ramaraju, Sonya 12 Hough, William A 16:51.33
29 590 Benoit, Mona 12 West Cabarrus 16:55.55
30 84 Labandeira, Christina 12 Ardrey Kell 17:15.96
31 89 Saricali, Almina 12 Ardrey Kell 17:17.09
32 47 Kuddie, Kahlen 12 A.L. Brown 17:34.01
33 499 Ortiz, Lemy 12 University School of John 17:44.02
34 192 Baldwin, Valerie 12 Hough, William A 18:04.24
35 93 Tobon, Samantha 12 Ardrey Kell 18:08.97
36 149 Akers, Bailey 12 Daniel Boone High School 18:09.91
37 544 Mortensen, Laurel 12 Watauga 18:13.18
38 526 Carpenter, Hadley 12 Watauga 18:17.75
39 493 Lavoie, Addie 12 University School of John 18:21.46
40 31 Acosta, Yanelli 12 A.L. Brown 19:27.75
41 197 Flores, Alejandra 12 Hough, William A 19:44.19
42 691 Castellano, Riley 12 West Stokes 19:47.02
43 203 Ogburn, Abbie 12 Hough, William A 19:49.41
44 40 Morton, Molly 12 A.L. Brown 20:34.92
45 42 Peneloza, Liha 12 A.L. Brown 20:35.83
46 204 Ogburn, Caty 12 Hough, William A 20:44.99
47 464 Gullion, Alie 12 Surry Home Educators 20:52.49
48 33 Estrada, Ally 12 A.L. Brown 21:29.24
49 600 Munene, Erin 12 West Cabarrus 29:02.00
Top Senior Boys Finishers
1 564 Bradbury, Will 12 Watauga 10:13.23
2 688 Saft, Keagan 12 West Henderson 10:33.35
3 707 Mathis, Zeb 12 West Stokes 10:49.33
4 404 Hoody, Max 12 Providence Day School 10:52.96
5 279 Rabon, Triston 12 Lake Norman 10:56.99
6 420 Smith, Nicholas 12 Providence Day School 10:58.06
7 624 Williams, Paul (Heath) 12 West Cabarrus 11:00.57
8 370 Gilliland, Derek 12 North Buncombe 11:02.80
9 284 Schmidt, Ben 12 Lake Norman 11:07.18
10 371 Knauer, Bennett 12 North Buncombe 11:11.77
11 684 Hamlin, Holden 12 West Henderson 11:14.76
12 368 Ferguson, Gabe 12 North Buncombe 11:21.31
13 415 Roemer, Chase 12 Providence Day School 11:24.81
14 702 Goodman, Chad 12 West Stokes 11:25.82
15 649 Harrison, Jack 12 West Forsyth 11:26.73
16 683 Greene, Roscoe 12 West Henderson 11:39.31
17 577 Norris, Jonah 12 Watauga 11:42.87
18 579 Rex, Samuel 12 Watauga 11:43.53
19 375 Popchock Moreno, Miguel 12 North Buncombe 11:49.48
20 569 Heistand, Haines 12 Watauga 11:52.65
21 221 Glennon, Sebastian 12 Hough, William A 11:59.59
22 347 Canas-peralta, Moises 12 Mooresville 12:00.40
23 644 Cornett, Shane 12 West Forsyth 12:01.41
24 609 Carder, Mateo 12 West Cabarrus 12:08.63
25 612 Endee, Brandon 12 West Cabarrus 12:09.98
26 423 Vedantham, Anish 12 Providence Day School 12:24.31
27 460 Orozco-Flores, Sony 12 Surry Central 12:27.26
28 288 Troutman, William 12 Lake Norman 12:29.34
29 374 Oliver, William 12 North Buncombe 12:37.21
30 275 Leighton, Nate 12 Lake Norman 12:39.95
31 616 Mah, Jameson 12 West Cabarrus 12:42.38
32 52 Delgado, Johnny 12 A.L. Brown 12:42.85
33 53 Fongemy, Ian 12 A.L. Brown 12:44.64
34 341 Albaeck, Ben 12 Mooresville 12:56.56
35 451 Harris, Samuel 12 South Caldwell 13:02.54
36 213 Baker, Bennett 12 Hough, William A 13:04.58
37 642 Cheney, Jackson 12 West Forsyth 13:09.52
38 349 Dillon, William 12 Mooresville 13:30.97
39 63 Palacios, Anthony 12 A.L. Brown 13:32.83
40 583 Tincher, Owen 12 Watauga 13:38.80
41 685 Holden, Kian 12 West Henderson 13:39.27
42 148 Ward, Owen 12 Avery County 13:47.76
43 68 Sinclair, Noah 12 A.L. Brown 13:55.34
44 626 wright, Alex 12 West Cabarrus 14:02.68
45 578 Nystrom, Sam 12 Watauga 14:03.10
46 483 Overcash, Caleb 12 Surry Home Educators 14:04.17
47 572 Langley, Charles 12 Watauga 14:11.29
48 701 Cox, Devin 12 West Stokes 14:17.27
49 73 Zapata, Daniel 10 A.L. Brown 14:19.66
50 713 Westmoreland, Ryan 12 West Stokes 14:22.04
51 459 Hervert, Marco 12 Surry Central 14:22.89
52 457 Eller, Isaac 12 Surry Central 14:36.67
