By David Rogers. HICKORY, N.C. — South Caldwell senior Bryce Corpening crushed the men’s field on Sept. 9 at Southside Park, for the St. Stephens-hosted cross country meet, but Watauga easily ran away with the team title based on high performance roster depth.
Corpening crossed the 5k finish line (3.11 miles) in 15:43.3, a full minute and seven seconds ahead of No. 2 Dawson Spath of McDowell (16:50.7). The Titans of McDowell also had the No. 3 finisher in the Men’s Division, senior Saul Carson (18:34.8).
But where the Spartans and Titans had the top runners on this day, Watauga’s top five contributing to the team scores were all in the top 15 places, including Brian Newmark at No. 4 (18:42.0), A J McAulay at No. 5 (18:50.5), Holden Womack at No. 11 (19:37.7), Cormac Walker at No. 14 (19:46.4), and Doyle Casey at No. 15 (19:51.8), for a team total of 49 (In cross country, the team scores are calculated by adding the individual placings of a school’s top 5 runners, so a lower total is better than a higher total).
TEAM SCORES:
- Watauga 49
- St. Stephens 82
- Alexander Central 89
- McDowell 94
- West Lincoln 103
- Freedom 154
- University Christian
- South Caldwell 179
In the Men’s field of 87 harriers, Watauga also had two other, non-scoring athletes in the quarter of the event: Sawyer Blackburn (No. 17, 20:02.8) and freshman Caleb Duval (No. 22, 20:15.9).
Other Pioneers competing on this day include Tallon Abrams, Cole Gray, Ike Mance, Andrew Walkert, David Ballenger-Peters, Reed Springer, Alaska Whitehead, Miller Hining, Remy Steinheber, Malcolm Woolard, Jaxson Marsh, Luke Salee, Charlie Huggins, and Collin Troisi.
WOMEN’S DIVISION: Watauga makes it a team sweep
The Women’s Division at the Southside Park event was a little more competitive, teamwise, but depth of roster again was a difference maker for the Pioneers.
Madison Sledge of University Christian led the way, capturing the No. 1 title more than 41 seconds ahead of St. Stephens’ Jade Gonzales-Carden (No. 2). West Lincoln’s Jaylise Campbell crossed the line in the No. 3 position and Callie Beard of St. Stephens was at No. 4.
Watauga picked up five of the next six spots, finishing with all five of the scorers among the top 10 out of 97 runners competing. Pioneer junior Josephine Walker was No. 5, 1:28.4 behind the first place athlete, while freshman Vivian Hans crossed the line in the No. 6 position. Other scoring Pioneers included Maggie Visser (No. 8), Bailey Collins (No. 9), and Zoe Stille (No. 10)
WOMEN’S DIVISION TEAM SCORES
- Watauga 36
- St. Stephens 42
- West Lincoln 85
- Alexander Central 135
- Freedom 146
- McDowell 151
- University Christian 153
- South Caldwell 244
Other Pioneer harriers competing in the Women’s Division and finishing in the top 36 of the field included Carrie Bradbury, Anna Norris, Noelle Bollman, Sylvia Taft, Ava Langley, Ayla Crawley, Grace Scantlin, Julia Benson, Iyla Freed, Elizabeth Anderson, Leila McTier, Rees Loggains, Merritt Powell, Rosemary Walker.
