PLEASANT GARDEN – Faith Christian School twins Karrie Gaines and Kylie Gaines were the top two runners in the North Carolina Christian School Association’s state cross country meet Thursday at Hagan-Stone Park.
The duo led a wave of strong finishes for Faith Christian, which secured the team championship for the second season in a row.
Karrie Gaines posted a time of 20 minutes, 27.81 seconds on the 5-kilometer course to repeat as individual champion. Kylie Gaines was next in 21:42.18.
Faith Christian’s Ruth McLanahan, the 2020 state champion for middle school, was fourth in 23:15.93, Madison Avelino was sixth in 23:43.06, Kassie Gaines placed 12th in 25:40.32, Ellis Joy Mathison was 17th in 26:08.08 and Abby Hicks was 39th in 32:17.43.
“They ran hard and pushed themselves with many of them running their fastest times at this race,” Faith Christian coach Taylor Brunson said.
The top four runners from each team were used for scoring, with Faith Christian posting 11 points. That was good for a comfortable advantage on runner-up Wilson Christian, which had 28.
In the boys’ race, Noah Lester of Faith Christian placed fifth in 19:09.44 seconds. Teammate Shawn Cox was 11th in 19:59.09.
Faith Christian was third in the team standings. Curtis Davis (23rd), Nathan Gardner (43rd). Jonathan Davis (44th), Coy Bertrand (52nd), Luke Brady (53rd) and Cadan Ferguson (54th) rounded out the team’s entries.
The individual winner was Conner Ford of team champion Wilson Christian in 17:57.39.
In the middle school portion of the meet, the Faith Christian boys were the team runner-up in a 4,000-meter run. The team was led by Isaac Harris (17:59.87) in seventh, Gabe Jones (18:01.64) in eighth, Brandon Avelino (19:18.27) in 12th, Joshua Daniel (19:36.78) in 14th, Collin Frye (19:38.43) in 15th and Levi Brown (20:21.79) in 19th.
NCHSAA
At Kernersville, Jazmin Palma of Uwharrie Charter Academy had the best finish among Randolph County entrants in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s state meet Saturday at Ivey Redmon Sports Complex.
Palma, a freshman, placed 43rd in the Class 1-A race in 23:02.87.
In Class 2-A girls, Providence Grove’s Mia Browder was 45th in 22:12.71.
In Class 2-A boys, the Providence Grove team finished 10th. The Patriots were led by Robert Burton in 65th place in 18:46.12.
Also in Class 2-A boys, Wheatmore’s Zach Hazelwood was 71st in 18:59.03, followed one spot later by Providence Grove’s Logan Stover (19:01.66).
