By David Rogers. KERNERSVILLE, N.C. — When 3,455 cross country runners compete at one venue… well, there are a lot of flying arms and legs churning through the air — and a lot of fun had by all.
But that’s how many student athletes competed on Sept. 6 in the Friday Night Lights Festival hosted in Kernersville, at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex. The Pioneers (high school) and Wolverines (middle school) had teams in eight of the 12 races run during the nighttime competition on the (mostly) flat-surfaced course.
Boys Championship
Watauga had 10 runners in the Boys Championship field comprises of 302 athletes from 34 teams. Four of the Pioneers finished in the top half of the field, led by Will Bradbury crossing the line at No.4. Pioneers finishing in the top half of the field in the 5,000 Meter Run (No. 1 finisher was Kavi Gibson of Cary Academy in 15:19.30):
- No. 4 – Will Bradbury (15:31.00)
- No. 100 – Calvin Zwetsloot (17:14.90)
- No. 132 – Grady Gates (17:34.50)
- No. 143 – Samuel Rex (17:44.40)
Other Watauga student athletes competing in the Boys Championship included Zeke Walker, Jonah Norris, Haines Heistand, James Bostrom, Levi Anderson, and Elliott Taft.
As a team, with the top five Pioneer runners scoring, Watauga finished 16th in the 34-team field.
Girls Championship
Kasey Dingman, a Lake Norman junior, won the Girls Championship in 17:46.50. Watauga had nine runners in the 5,000-Meter Run event, with the top five runners scoring a 14th place for the team among 33 schools entered.
The Pioneers were led by freshman Cali Townsend, who completed the course in 18:52.50, good enough for 18th place. Other Pioneers finishing in the top half of the field comprised of 290 runners:
- No. 18 – Cali Townsend (18:52.50)
- No. 43 – Annabelle Stewart (19:26.50)
- No. 45 – Janie Beach-Verhay (19:27.10)
- No. 146 – Lainey Johnston (21:25.30)
Other Pioneers included Lily Kimbrough, Josephine Walker, Carrie Bradbury, Susanna Goff, Anna Norris and Sophie Parker.
Boys JV (Freshmen and Sophomores)
Aiden Butler, a sophomore from Holly Springs, finished No. 1 in the Boys freshmen and sophomore JV 5,000-Meter race, in 17:30.10. Watauga had seven student athletes in the race comprised of 454 runners representing 43 schools. The Pioneers finishing in the top half of the field included:
- No. 36 – Brian Newmark (18:57.80)
- No. 39 – Andres Roman (19:02.20)
- No. 53 – Isaac James (19:19.90)
- No. 181 – Tallon Abrams (20:55.20)
Other Pioneers in the race included Ike Mance, Cole Gray, and Cormac Walker. The Watauga team, comprised of the top five athletes, finished 15th.
Boys JV (Juniors and Seniors)
The Boys JV 5,000-Meter Run featuring juniors and seniors had 266 runners from 22 schools. Elliott Johnston of Hoggard crossed the line No. 1, in 17:18.80. Pioneer student athletes finishing in the top half of the field included:
- No. 49 – Santino Wood (19:16.20)
- No. 58 – Doyle Casey (19:26.00)
- No. 72 – Holden Womak (19:51.80)
- No. 104 – A J McAulay (20:26.90)
- No. 106 – Charles Langley (20:28.40)
Other Pioneers competing included Mike Menchu-Yax, Mitch Jasper, Sam Nystrom, Bryan Chen and Alaska Whitehead. The Watauga team finished 12th.
Girls JV
In the Girls JV race, Cuthbertson freshman Kacey Neenan topped the field of the 5,000-Meter race in 21:01.80. With 456 participants from 43 schools, it was the largest field of the night.
Watauga was represented by 21 student athletes, led by No. 27 Carrie Bradbury. As a team, the Pioneers JV squad finished No. 7 out of the 43 schools represented. The Watauga student athletes finishing in the top half of the large field included:
- No. 27 – Carrie Bradbury (22:49.00)
- No. 43 – Noelle Bollman (23:14.10)
- No. 45 – Mia Grace Libre (23:17.80)
- No. 46 – Bailey Collins (23:19.60)
- No. 49 – Riley Benson (23:25.60)
- No. 85 – Sydney Townsend (24:03.00)
- No. 103 – Julia Benson (24:18.80)
- No. 159 – Kara Schneider (25:13.50)
Other Pioneers participating in the event included Julian Martin, Ava Langley, Hadley Carpenter, Gianna Casco, Iyla Freed, Cora Smith, Xitlali Luna, Laurel Mortenson, Gracyn Blanton, Maja Leyendecker, Sydney Moretz, Samantha Perry, and Ursa Tzotschew.
Boys Middle School
Trevor Christensen of Cuthbertson MS took top honors in the 2-mile race that saw 271 runners from 22 schools. Watauga had 17 runners in the event, with Jonah Pearson (No. 10) and Sean Rea (No. 11) finishing among the leaders. The Watauga runners in the top half of the field included:
- No. 10 – Jonah Pearson (11:35.90)
- No. 11 – Sean Rea (11:38.80)
- No. 86 – Yates Hodges (13:45.10)
- No. 94 – Caleb Duvall (13:56.30)
- No. 121 – Kailu Rodli-Bost (14:42.60)
- No. 135 – John Braxton (14:51.10)
As a team, Watauga finished No. 7 among the 22 school teams comprised of 6th, 7th and 8th graders.
Other Watauga runners competing included Reed Springer, Sam Twigg, Olin Coley, Miles Pearson, Luke Wilmer, Owen Parker, Charlie Huggins, Collin Troisi, Tye Friedheim, Greene Mayhew, and Max Friedheim.
Girls Middle School
Union Academy 7th grader Athena Pluchos captured the No. 1 spot (12:18.50) in the Girls Middle School race, also a 2-Mile Run. Watauga finished a respectable 5th out of the 21 school teams competing, including a total of 215 runners.
Watauga’a 18 entries was led by 7th grader Kate James Moore and 8th grader Sophia Stull, finishing at No. 14 and No. 15, respectively. All Watauga runners finishing in the top half of the field included:
- No. 14 – Kate James Moore (13:15.70)
- No. 15 – Sophia Stull (13:18.60)
- No. 60 – Eva Hannon (14:48.20)
- No. 81 – Addie Greer (15:25.20)
- No. 96 – Hannah Reule (15:55.50)
- No. 98 – Liliana Resendiz (15:56.40)
- No. 100 – Eden Gates (15:58.10)
Other Watauga runners included Mia Kelley, Vivian Hans, Caitlyn Taylor, Estalee Davenport, Bianca Casco, Anna Brooks Heistand, Lillian Olson, Riley Morgan, Zoey Wells, Reagan Russell, and Ellie Cobb.
Mixed
Although Alex Lutz, a junior representing First Flight was the top finisher (11:55.0) in the Mixed 2-Mile race that included both boys and girls, Watauga freshman Grace Scantlin (14:19.50) was the top finisher among the girls competing in the race.
Other Watauga athletes competing in the Mixed race and their place by gender included:
- No. 1 – Grace Scantlin (14:19.50)
- No. 27 – Julia Mckinney (16:24.3)
- No. 28 – Darla Bachman (16:25.3)
- No. 39 – Claire Nance (16:45.0)
- No. 71 – Leah Gaydon (17:44.7)
- No. 94 – Myla Morgan (18:06.1)
- No. 103 – Madalyn Taylor (18:12.4)
- No. 107 – Sylvia Afanador (18:15.8)
- No. 130 – Maya Price (18:50.2)
Other Watauga competitors included Cecelia Afanador, Nora Shepherd Powell, Presley Ware, Jasmine Tripp, and Annie Willis.
