By David Rogers. MILL SPRINGS, N.C. — Sophomore cross country sensation Cali Townsend of Watauga High School took the individual title for the 2025 6A West Regional XC Championships on Oct. 25, hosted by the Tryon Equestrian Center, leading the Pioneer harriers to the team title. All five of Watauga’s scorers for the team total placed in the top 11 among the 93 women’s XC athletes competing from 13 western N.C. schools with full 5-runner teams and a smattering of teams with fewer than needed to qualify for team title consideration.
Watauga’s 35 team points was far ahead of second place A.C. Reynolds (66 points) and third place Mount Tabor (72).
While Townsend conquered the demanding course in 17:31.1, a little more than 16 seconds ahead of No. 2 Sofi Alexander, a senior from Asheville HS (17:47.2), her Pioneer teammates also had strong finishes, the seven harriers representing Watauga all finishing in the top 25.
Among the most impressive was Pioneer freshman Josie Mayo, who completed the course as the No. 4 finisher (18:59.4). The final trio of Watauga scores crossed the finish line No. 9, No. 10 and No. 11, including Janie Beach-Verhay, Lainey Johnston, and Lilly Kimbrough, respectively. While seven runners could represent each team, only the top five from each school go into the team total calculations. Watauga’s Sophia Stull and Susanna Goff finished No. 18 and No. 24, respectively.
Next up for the Pioneers is a trip next week to Kernersville for the state championship meet. According to the NCHSAA website, the 6A and 8A North Carolina State XC Championship races will begin at 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex.
