CAP-7 CONFERNCE
Millbrook sophomore Samantha George captured first place in Tuesday's Cap-7 Conference Cross Country Championship, posting a time of 18:14.99. In addition to George's win, the Lady Wildcats also claimed the team title, tallying a score of 44.
Spartans, Lady Wildcats take Cap-7 crowns
George repeats as girls' winner, posting a time of 18:14.99
Entering Tuesday's Cap-7 Conference girls cross country championship race at WakeMed Soccer Park , Millbrook sophomore Samantha George — last year's conference champion — and Wildcat coach Brian Schneidewind compiled a strategy.
It was simple plan, really.
George was to hang in the lead pack, and pull away late. A good plan — likely a winning plan, too, considering her success last year.
But the 10th-grader decided against it.
"My coach wanted me to stay with the next top girl and leave her at the hill," George said. "But I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to go early."
The result? George posted a remarkable time of 18:14.99 en route to her second consecutive title, besting second-place, Leesville Road's Lauren Strapp, by nearly 30 seconds.
Want to see the finish to the Cap-7 Conference races again? All you have to do is click here.
With George's victory, and teammates Allora Burke (sixth place) and Megan Corbally (eighth) finishing in the Top 10, the Lady Wildcats also won the team title with a score of 44.
Broughton (50) and Sanderson (55) finished in second and third, respectively. Leesville Road (110) took fourth and Wakefield (141), Enloe (156) and Wake Forest-Rolesville (178) rounded out the field.
George lauded her team's overall performance, explaining "this is the best team we have had in awhile, and we did great today."
Although George's finish might overshadow Strapp's, the Pride runner's 18:54 was equally impressive, finishing more than 40 seconds ahead of third- and fourth-place finishers Sanderson's Allison and Samantha Cook.
Other standouts were Leesville's Emily Putnam (12th), Millbrook's Olivia Wedegaernter (13th) and Sanderson's Anna Taylor (14th) and Maddie DiVittorio (16th). Wakefield's Devon Enderle snagged 17th.
In the boys championship race, Sanderson pulled out a narrow 40-42 win over Broughton, thanks in large part to the Spartans' stable of solid runners. Leesville Road finished third with 51, followed by Enloe (137), Millbrook (142), Wakefield (154) and Wake Forest-Rolesville (202).
After Broughton's Reidy Jones and Pierre Malherbe captured first and second, and Wakefield's Mitch Mallory took third, Sanderson swept four of the next five spots on its way to the win.
Matt Schick, battling a foot injury, led the squad, placing fourth with a time of 16:08.19.
Matt Geisz (fifth), Mitchell Feldman (seventh) and Philip Hathaway (eighth) finished seconds later.
And just moments after Sanderson assistant coach Jason Bochert — standing at the finish line — shouted "Where's my fifth runner?" Ben Boyles appeared in the homestretch, racing in for 16th place. Teammate Andrew White took 17th as well.
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Coming into the meet, Feldman said the Spartans predicted the championship was anyone's race.
"We knew it was going to be a roll of the dice," he said. "Everyone is so talented out here, we just wanted to see how it played out.
Feldman stopped short of saying the squad expected to win, but explained, "We wouldn't have been happy if we didn't win."
Andrew Byrum paced the third-place Leesville squad, finishing sixth. Brian Jackson (ninth) and Christian Klute (10th) also had strong showings for the Pride.
Mallory's third-place finish opened several eyes as the Wakefield junior posted a time of 15:59.
"I was just trying to run a good race and break 16 [minutes], which I did," he said.
It was his best finish of the season, which is noteworthy considering WakeMed's hilly terrain.
"Knowing the course makes all the difference," Mallory said. "You can pick spots where you can pick it up. For the first mile, the pack was running 4.50s, which is a slow pace, but then we starting spreading out a little bit."
For photos of the Cap-7 Championships, click on the photo above.
With the Cap-7 Championship in their rear-view mirrors, local runners turn their attention to next weekend's 4-A regional meet, also held at WakeMed.
At regionals, the top four teams, plus the top four individual runners, qualify for states.
Mallory's goal is pretty simple entering the meet.
"I just want to run faster than I did this week," he said.
But for Feldman, and the Spartans, regionals is a chance at redemption.
"Last year, we ran horrible at regionals," he said. "We have a lot of seniors, and right now we aren't even thinking about states, we are focusing on this next race. And hopefully we will get some momentum with this win."
For complete results of the girls' race, click here. For the boys, click here. And for the junior varisty stats, click here.
Top 10 female runners
1. Samantha George — Millbrook
2. Lauren Strapp — Leesville Road
3. Allison Cook — Sanderson
4. Samantha Cook — Sanderson
5. Logan Hand — Broughton
6. Allora Burke — Millbrook
7. Meredith Cook — Broughton
8. Megan Corbally — Millbrook
9. Kyndal Boykin — Broughton
10. Deanna Hardesty — Enloe
Top 10 male runners
1. Reidy Jones — Broughton
2. Pierre Malherbe — Broughton
3. Mitch Mallory — Wakefield
4. Matt Schick — Sanderson
5. Matt Geisz — Sanderson
6. Andrew Byrum — Leesville Road
7. Mitchell Feldman — Sanderson
8. Philip Hathaway — Sanderson
9. Brian Jackson — Leesville Road
10. Christian Klute — Leesville Road
