WCA dominance evident in county XC sweep
By Paul Durham,
5 hours ago
The “secret” to Wilson Christian Academy’s sustained success with its cross-country program was on full display Monday, Oct. 7, after the Chargers and Lady Chargers completed their first sweep of the Wilson County Cross-Country Championships in the 17th edition held at Wilson Christian for the fourth time.
On the front row of the victorious combined team photo sat a line of diminutive middle schoolers, none of whom figured into the scoring for this year’s races for WCA, but it wasn’t all that long ago that the older kids who did score were just as small. Monday was a confirmation of the strides that head coach Dwight Vanderboegh has seen in his many years since starting the program in the 2000s.
“This has been a great season. The group of kids we have is really great,” Vanderboegh said.
Wilson Christian easily won the girls meet for just the second time but first in 10 years (and first under Vanderboegh who had stepped away from the program to tend to adminstrative duties in 2014) while the Chargers held off a hard-charging Hunt team for their fourth straight boys county crown.
Stevie Cressionnie, an eighth grader who finished second behind record-setting Fike senior Erin Pope in last year’s county championship at Gillette Athletic Complex, won her first (but probably not last) county title while Chargers junior Conner Ford also claimed his first championship in the boys race.
Both had to beat teammates in the WCA brother-sister combo of Mireici and Aaron Hicks that finished second in each race.
Ford, the third Charger to win a county title, praised Hicks, also an eighth grader.
“Aaron Hicks, having him be able to push me for that first mile,” Ford said was the key factor.
After last year’s meet in which Pope and then WCA senior Lin Scott each set meet records, not even a personal record fell among the top finishers on a course at Wilson Christian that has seen more than its share of rain in the last few weeks.
“No, but we expected this,” Vanderboegh said. “It’s muddy in the back. It’s never, historically, been a fast course — lot of turns.”
The course will get a lot of work this week with WCA pushing its two annual big home meets together due to rainouts. Vanderboegh said there will be some 350 runners Tuesday night at the By the Moon’s Light night race and then more than 35 middle and high school teams at Thursday’s Pumpkin Run.
Hunt, expected to contend in both meets Monday, pushed the Chargers throughout the boys race. Right behind Ford and Hicks were the Warriors trio of Christian Hall, Mason Gesell and Landen Johnson while McLane Sharp repeated as all-county by finishing eighth. Tristal Hall was 11th to complete Hunt’s scoring.
“The boys were really good,” said Hunt head coach Rusty Boyette. “I knew that we didn’t have to do anything overly ridiculous just to be competitive. As long as we ran what we needed to run, I knew we’d be in contention.”
“I think my boys did really good. I knew we had a chance, just came up couple positions short. If all five of our guys are in the top 11, can’t get too mad about that.”
The Chargers’ six-point win just came down to some grit, Vanderboegh said, pointing to Caleb Gillen.
“He was behind Hunt’s 5 and 6, passed them both,” Vanderboegh said. “He was our fifth runner.”
Gillen finished ninth overall to squeeze the entire Chargers scorers onto the all-county team, along with senior twins Alexander and Samuel Herndon, who earned repeat honors.
Also landing on all-county for a second straight was Fike senior Elijah Twiss.
Cressionnie also didn’t come close to her personal-best time but the middle schooler who also excels in softball was happy with her race.
“I feel like that I did pretty good, and I kept my pace like I wanted to,” she said after standing at the finish line to congratulate each of the girls behind her.
“It gives a lot of encouragement if you just stand here and help and be like, ‘You’ve got this, you can do it!’” she said.
Cressionnie said she didn’t know she would be successful when she started running two years ago but it’s been a big help for softball as well.
“It goes very well along softball because it keeps me where I’m allowed to pitch longer. It gives me endurance for pitching,” she said.
The girls race had no such drama with just three schools having enough runners for team scores. Hunt, expected to challenge Wilson Christian, had a challenging day with several top runners unable to run for various reasons.
“I wish Hunt had full strength,” expressed Vanderboegh.
It might not have mattered, given the Lady Chargers’ showing that included all five runners in the top 10. Alma Gamble, Charlie Kate Barnett and Camryn Alexander finished fifth, seventh and ninth, respectively to end Fike’s streak of four straight girls county titles.
“No, I knew he was gonna get me this year,” Fike head coach Cheryl Gardner said of Vanderboegh. “I just don’t have what I have had the last couple of years. I’ve got a lot of runners that have never run before, so I’m pleased with second. I figured Hunt would get it so I’m thrilled to go home with second place this year!”
Kate Kopka and Tierney Powers each placed on the all-county team while sophomore Gracie Mercer finished 11th for Fike. Hunt was led by Ava Johnson in 14th place.
Greenfield had two all-county runners, including Mikayla Goines, who was third in her first county championship. Lilly Aurelis placed 10th.
Sallie B. Howard’s Mina Reyes earned her third all-county distinction as she placed eighth.
Community Christian was led by Catherine Harrell and Ella Taylor as they finished 12th and 13th, respectively, in the girls race. Jared Kovach’s 12th-place finish led the CCS boys.
Beddingfield was represented by senior Rebecca Balkcum and Adrianna Smith in the girls race while Keontae Allen was the lone Bruin running Monday as the Wilson County Cross-Country Championship attracted every high school cross-country team in the county this time, making it a true county championship.
And those younger, smaller Chargers on the front row? They beat plenty of high schoolers Monday, giving a glimpse of the future.
“There’s just so many. They’re all in,” Vanderboegh.
And they’re not going anywhere.
“I feel that we’ve worked hard for it the past couple years, and I’m hoping to win the next one!” Cressionnie said.
17th Wilson County Cross-Country Championships
Monday, Oct. 4
At Wilson Christian Academy
GIRLS
Team results
Wilson Christian 20
Fike 40
Hunt 75
Top 10 individuals
1. Stevie Cressionnie, Wilson Christian 23:46.66
2. Mireici Hicks, Wilson Christian 24:27.6
3. Mikayla Goines, Greenfield 25:04.33
4. Kate Kopka, Fike 25:14.02
5. Alma Gamble, Wilson Christian 25:56.92
6. Tierney Powers, Fike 26:14.48
7. Charlie Kate Barnett, Wilson Christian 26:30.05
8. Guillermina Reyes, Sallie B. Howard 26:48.44
9. Camryn Alexander, Wilson Christian 27:21.95
10. Lilly Aurelis, Greenfield 27:36.25
BOYS
Team results
Wilson Christian 25
Hunt 31
Fike 90
Greenfield 119
Sallie B. Howard 125
Community Christian 132
Top 10 individuals
1. Conner Ford, Wilson Christian 19:18.91
2. Aaron Hicks, Wilson Christian 19:27.74
3. Christian Hall, Hunt 20:25.84
4. Mason Gesell, Hunt 20:31.50
5. Landen Johnson, Hunt 21:05.18
6. Alexander Herndon, Wilson Christian 21:26.65
7. Samuel Herndon, Wilson Christian 21:27.61
8. McLane Sharp, Hunt 21:27.85
9. Caleb Gillen, Wilson Christian 21:38.93
10. Elijah Twiss, Fike 22:24.45
All-Time Wilson County Cross-Country Championships results
Year Boys Winner, Team Time Boys Team Winner Girls Winner, Team Time Girls Team Winner Site
2007 Steven Ewan, Fike 17:25 Fike Laura Hanson, Fike 21:13 Fike Gillette
2008 Cody Jones, Fike 18:17 Fike Beth Hanson, Fike 21:12 Fike Gillette
2009 Cody Jones, Fike 18:40 Fike Beth Hanson, Fike 21:28 Fike Lake Wilson
2010 Brandon Tedder, Fike 17:53 Beddingfield CeCe Yarbrough, Fike 21:50 Fike Gillette
2011 Zovek Chapa, Fike 18:38 Fike Martha Scott Benson, Fike 21:09 Fike Gillette
2012 Talen Piner, Fike 18:00 Fike Lauren West, Hunt 20:31 Fike Gillette
2013 Marcus Medina-Artis, Hunt 18:22 Hunt Lauren West, Hunt 20:19 Fike Gillette
2014 Jacob Varnell, Beddingfield 17:47 Beddingfield Lauren West, Hunt 20:59 Wilson Christian Gillette
2015 Christian McFarland, Wilson Christian 17:18 Hunt Lauren West, Hunt 19:56 Hunt Hunt
2016 Christian McFarland, Wilson Christian 17:55 Fike Isabella Reed, Hunt 21:44 Hunt Gillette
2017 Renzo Cieza, Hunt 16:48.07 Fike Isabella Reed, Hunt 20:31.18 Hunt Wilson Christian
2018 Chelear Forbes, Hunt 18:37 Fike Isabella Reed, Hunt 22:27 Hunt Wilson Christian
2019 Amando Robles, Fike 18:48 Fike Cecelia Johnson, Fike 24:01 Fike Hunt
2020 No meet
2021 Lin Scott, Wilson Christian 18:00.1 Wilson Christian Cecelia Johnson, Fike 22:44.9 Fike Wilson Christian
2022 Lin Scott, Wilson Christian 17:29.12 Wilson Christian Cecelia Johnson, Fike 22:29.63 Fike Gillette
2023 Lin Scott, Wilson Christian 16:24.61 Wilson Christian Erin Pope, Fike 18:30.96 Fike Gillette
2024 Conner Ford, Wilson Christian 19:18.91 Wilson Christian Stevie Cressionnie 23:46.66 Wilson Christian Wilson Christian
The post WCA dominance evident in county XC sweep first appeared on Restoration NewsMedia .
Local NewsIt’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0