By David Rogers BOONE, N.C. — Against a total of seven middle school cross country teams, Parkway 8th grader Cali Townsend blew away the field of 56 student athletes to capture the middle school girls division of the Watauga-hosted “Clash of the Classes” on Aug. 19.
It could easily have been called a harrier festival at the Don Kennedy Trails venue with 36 schools and more than 1,000 runners competing in 10 classes, each defined by gender and academic level.
While Townsend topped the field with a time of 12:34, Claire Zimmerman, an 8th grade student representing Lakeshore Middle School (Lake Norman), was a distant second for the two-mile course, crossing the finish line just under 13 minutes, in 12:59). Arvella Nave, of T A Dugger Junior High School, was third in 13:25.
With 23 runners in the field of 56, Watauga had the largest contingent and had eight athletes among the 15 medal winners in the middle school girls division.
Boys Middle School Division
Seventh grader Sean Rea was the top Watauga entrant in the middle school boys division, securing a top 10 position in ninth place, with a time of 13:20. Eighth grader Dylan Robinson of Providence Academy took the title in 11:38, followed by two unattached athletes, Obie Greene (12:36) and Lance Dingman (12:46). Watauga 7th grader Jonah Pearson ran 13:23, good enough for ninth place.
Watauga had 10 of the 62 runners competing in the boys middle school division, placing fourth in the middle school boys classification.
