By David Rogers. KERNERSVILLE, N.C. — A No. 4 team finish by the Watauga District girls cross country team in what is regarded as the middle school state meet on Oct. 19, brought a lot of happy smiles to the faces of storm-beleaguered harriers who had to spend a lot of the last three weeks training alone or in makeshift sessions.
In the Girls Championship race, the Watauga girls were led by seventh grader Kate James Moore’s No. 13 overall finish out of the 121 athletes qualified to run in the Girls Championship event. Eighth grade student-athlete Sophia Stull crossed the line in the No. 25 position, with Eva Hannon No. 70, Hannah Reule No. 72, and Merritt Powell No. 91 to round out the top five Watauga scorers.
Moore crossed the finish line of the 2-mile course with a time of 12:28.9, good enough for No. 6 among school based runners (not including club teams), and just eight seconds out of second place in the tight finish. Stull was scored No. 11 in the school-based division, Hannon No. 33, Reule No. 34, and Powell No. 51 to account for Watauga’s 135 team points.
Cuthbertson Middle School was the No. 1 team, followed by Marvin Ridge MS (No. 2) and Weddington (No. 3). Watauga was one of 11 schools with at least five runners in the field for team competition.
In the Boys Division, the lone Watauga middle school harrier in the Boys Championship was Blowing Rock’s Sean Rea, who finished No. 58 overall and No. 34 among the school-based teams’ runners. The Boys Championship race featured 145 qualifying runners.
