By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Led by Calvin Zwetsloot’s No.1 finish, the Watauga High School men’s cross-country team swept the first four places and put seven harriers in the top 10 for the 2025 Northwestern Conference 6A/7A Pre-Conference Meet on Sept. 30.
A senior, Zwetsloot finished almost 10 seconds ahead of No. 2 James Bostrom in the 5,000 Meter Run on Watauga’s home course but all four of the sweeping Pioneers were within 27 seconds of the race winner’s time of 18:06.72, including junior Bostrom (18:16.09), freshman Sean Rea (18:33.08) and senior Zeke Walker (18:33.75).
After South Caldwell senior Bryce Corpening crossed the line at No. 4 (18:34.11), a trio of Pioneers completed Watauga’s top seven athletes, including senior Levi Anderson (No. 6, 18:41.96), freshman Jonah Pearson (No. 7, 18:47.02) and senior Elliott Taft (18:.54).
Freedom sophomore Frank Harrelson (No. 9, 19:01.11) and Alexander Central sophomore Caden Horn (No. 10, 19:11.77) completed the top 10. Fifty-two (52) runners competed, including 27 Pioneers.
In the team competition, Watauga was far and away the winner with a near-perfect 16 points (15 is the best possible), followed by Freedom (No. 2, 71 points), Alexander Central (No. 3, 71 points) and South Caldwell (No. 4, 85).
MEN’S RESULTS
