4-A MIDEAST REGIONAL
Sanderson's Mitchell Feldman (center) placed 13th in Saturday's 4-A Mideast Regional Cross Country meet in Cary, helping the Spartans to a second-place finish and a bid to states.
Mallory, Spartans state-bound
George finishes second; Lady Wildcats nab fourth
A few hundred meters from the finish line of the biggest — and best — race of his life, Wakefield's Mitch Mallory tripped over his own two feet.
But the junior gathered himself —albeit spitting mad — and completed the race, placing fifth in Saturday's 4-A Mideast Regional Cross Country meet with a time of 15:58.23. His finish qualified him for next week's 4-A state championships in Winston-Salem — and he's the first runner to advance to the finals from Wakefield in at least six years, coach Wayne Dubnansky said.
"I tripped and fell on my way up the hill," Mallory shrugged afterward. "I just caught my own leg. I was in a bad mood coming up to the finish. I was pissed. I just wanted to get to the finish line as fast as I could."
But he chuckled recalling his fall, and when reminded that he once stopped during a race last year to tie his shoes, Mallory laughed adding "stupid things always seem to happen."
Dubnansky explained Mallory "looked strong the whole race," and was helped by his "incredible kick" up the final hill.
Click here to see the finishes at the 4-A Mideast Regional Cross Country meet.
Only Broughton's Reidy Jones (first; 15:29.96) and Pierre Malherbe (fourth; 15:50.95), Northern Durham's Blake Williams (second; 15:33.33) and Green Hope's Bryan Spreitzer (third; 15:46.93) bested Mallory's effort.
Led by Jones and Malberbe, the Capitals captured first place (52) in the team rankings, defeating Sanderson (68) by just 12 points. Green Hope (88) and Apex (112) finished third and fourth, respectively, earning bids to the state finals. The top four teams qualified for the championships, leaving fifth-place Leesville Road (117) on the outside looking in.
Despite being slowed by an ankle injury — two stress fractures in fact — Matt Schick paced the Spartans, finishing sixth with a time of 16:09.94.
Not far off Schick's finish were teammates Matt Geisz (12th; 16:25.73), Mitchell Feldman (13th; 16:34.68), Philip Hathaway (15th; 16:39.43), Andrew White (26th; 17:07.34) and Ben Boyles (31st; 17:15.43).
Although the leg injury is painful, Schick is determined to see his season to the end.
"I'm not going to shut my season down because we have a chance at states," he said.
And to be honest, he felt good running Saturday. So good in fact, he took an early lead about 800 meters in.
"I figured I felt good, so I should give it a shot," Schick said.
While last week's Cap-7 Conference meet seemed to start off slowly, Mallory recalled, the regional event had a quick pace right from the get-go.
"That was an honest first mile compared to last week," he said. "We were running pretty fast. It was nice to hang in that front pact. It was fun and intimidating at the same time."
Just off Mallory and Schick's pace were several Cap-7 Conference rivals.
Leesville's Aaron Smith grabbed 14th place with a time of 16:36.76, and teammate Brian Jackson took 19th with a time of 16:49.33. Andrew Byrum (27th), Will Woodhouse (29th), Sam Sarakbi (33rd) and Christian Klute (38th) also had solid showings for the Pride.
Mallory, Blake Watkins (39th) and George Stiak (92th) rounded out Wakefield's top three.
As for the local teams, Millbrook (289) took home 10th, and Wakefield (352) placed 14th.
Mallory and Schick are confident success at regionals should translate well to states.
"It's the hardest region in the state by far," Schick said. "It's fun, but it makes it more competitive."
Added Mallory, "I'm looking at the competition here, and I know it will be these same guys at states. I have never run the state course before. So my plan is to stick with the main pack that I ran with here and when I think I'm close enough to the finish kick it up."
Schick credited Sanderson coach Jason Bochert for getting the Spartans in state-meet form this season.
"We wouldn't have done what we did today without him," he said. "He has made so much of a difference. He's just a good coach, and he goes out of his way to help us."
Schick added Boyles continues to impress his teammates, saying "He struggled last year, but he worked so hard this year to improve, and I couldn't be prouder of him. He's worked harder than anybody else on the team."
Leesville Road's Lauren Strapp (center) placed ninth at Saturday's race.
On the girls' side
East Chapel Hill's Carolyn Baskir might have run away from most of the competition, taking first-place honors with a time of 17:57.19, but Millbrook's Samantha George can't be included in that pack.
The Wildcat sophomore — a week removed from winning the Cap-7 Conference meet — put together a great race, capturing second just half a minute off Baskir's pace.
George helped Millbrook (115) grab fourth place in the regional event, qualifying the Wildcats for states. Millbrook snagged the last team spot, and trailed only Green Hope (44), Cary (88) and East Chapel Hill (102).
With Samantha and Allison Cook — eighth and 11th, respectively — leading the way, Sanderson took home sixth place, and Leesville's Lauren Strapp snagged ninth helping the Pride to 10th-place team finish. Wakefield placed 15th.
The Wildcats prevailed because of its total team effort as all seven of their runners placed in the top 67.
Allora Burke (19th; 20:10:19), Bonnie Gartland (27th; 20:49.27), Megan Corbally (32nd; 20:58.42), Olivia Wedegaertner (36th; 21:08.19), Emily Buchenberger (42nd; 21:17.73) and Amber Buckalew (67th; 22:34.18) helped Millbrook grab the last spot.
Wildcat coach Brian Schneidewind said after the race that Buchenberger put together her best race of the year.
Sanderson's Monica Litsas (47th), Erin Smothers (52nd), Sarah Pittman (73rd) and Anna Taylor (76th) placed in the top 80.
Leesville's Emily Putman raced in for 26th, and Rachel Phillips grabbed 72nd.
Dominique Grasso took 64th place, leading the Lady Wolverines, with Devon Enderle (69th) and Natalie Della Valle (80th) not far behind.
Saturday's 4-A state cross country meet is schedule at Tanglewood Park in Winston-Salem. The boys' race kicks off at 2:30 p.m., and the girls race at 3:30 p.m.
For more results, follow this link, http://nc.milesplit.us/meets/56227.
