By David Rogers. LENOIR, N.C. — With a blistering time of 16:18 over the 5,000-Meter course at the Lenoir Aquatic and Fitness Center on Sept. 4, Watauga senior Will Bradbury finished over a minute and a half ahead of No. 2 runner Bryce Corpening of South Caldwell (18:00). Close behind were two more Pioneers, junior Calvin Zwetsloot (No. 3, 18:08) and sophomore James Bostrom (No. 4, 18:33) in the Men’s Division of the Northwestern Conference Pre-Conference Season Opener.
Watauga senior Jonah Norris (No. 7, 19:17) and sophomore Grady Gates (No. 8, 19:18) completed Watauga’s top 5 finishers for calculating the team results, which were dominated by the Pioneers among the five competing schools and their 66 student athletes in the men’s division.
In the larger, 86-runner field of the Women’s Division, Watauga freshman Cali Townsend led a 1-2-3-4-5-6 team sweep, crossing the finish line of the 5,000-Meters course No. 1 (20:25), followed by fellow Pioneers Annabelle Stewart (No. 2, 20:28, senior), Janie Beach-Verhay (No. 3, 21:08, junior), Josephine Walker (No. 4, 22:35, sophomore), Lainey Johnston (No. 5, 22:37, sophomore) and Lily Kimbrough (No. 6, 22:38). With the top 5 finishers, Watauga recorded a perfect team score of 15 points.
Team Scores, Men
1 Watauga 19 1 2 3 6 7 8 9
Total Time: 1:31:34 Average: 18:18.80 1-5 Split: 3:00
2 Alexander Central 45 4 5 10 11 15 16 21
Total Time: 1:37:58 Average: 19:35.60 1-5 Split: 2:17
3 Freedom 87 12 13 17 20 25 26 29
Total Time: 1:48:12 Average: 21:38.36 1-5 Split: 4:11
4 Hibriten 117 14 18 22 31 32 34 -
Total Time: 1:58:28 Average: 23:41.60 1-5 Split: 7:05
5 Ashe County 121 19 23 24 27 28 30 33
Total Time: 1:59:18 Average: 23:51.56 1-5 Split: 3:12
Team Scores, Women
1 Watauga 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 13
Total Time: 1:47:13 Average: 21:26.60 1-5 Split: 2:12
2 Ashe County 67 7 8 15 17 20 26 27
Total Time: 2:02:36 Average: 24:31.20 1-5 Split: 3:25
3 Alexander Central 70 9 12 14 16 19 24 29
Total Time: 2:03:39 Average: 24:43.76 1-5 Split: 2:29
4 South Caldwell 101 10 21 22 23 25 32 33
Total Time: 2:11:50 Average: 26:22.00 1-5 Split: 3:12
5 Hibriten 118 11 18 28 30 31 - -
Total Time: 2:15:14 Average: 27:02.76 1-5 Split: 4:39
Top 30, Men’s Division
1 Will Bradbury 12 Watauga 16:18.00 1 2 Bryce Corpening 11 South Caldwell 18:00.00 3 Calvin Zwetsloot 11 Watauga 18:08.00 2 4 James Bostrom 10 Watauga 18:33.00 3 5 Zachary Zirkle 12 Alexander Central 18:40.00 4 6 Griffin Duncan 12 Alexander Central 18:58.00 5 7 Jonah Norris 12 Watauga 19:17.00 6 8 Grady Gates 10 Watauga 19:18.00 7 9 Zeke Walker 11 Watauga 19:18.60 8 10 Samuel Rex 12 Watauga 19:19.00 9 11 Lucas Ritchie 12 Alexander Central 19:21.00 10 12 Elliott Taft 11 Watauga 19:26.00 13 Haines Heistand 12 Watauga 19:32.00 14 Levi Anderson 11 Watauga 19:39.00 15 Samuel Harris 12 South Caldwell 19:42.00 16 Nicholas Haney 11 Alexander Central 20:02.00 11 17 Christopher Uren 12 Freedom 20:05.00 12 18 Brian Newmark 10 Watauga 20:06.00 19 Doyle Casey 11 Watauga 20:06.70 20 Jonah Griggs 12 Freedom 20:28.00 13 21 Austin Whittington 10 Hibriten 20:30.00 14 22 AJ McAulay 11 Watauga 20:54.00 23 Evan Sherrod 9 Alexander Central 20:57.00 15 24 Isaac James 10 Watauga 21:00.00 25 Charles Langley 12 Watauga 21:07.00 26 Holden Womak 11 Watauga 21:15.00 27 Caden Horn 9 Alexander Central 21:26.00 16 28 Nick Chiota 9 Freedom 21:26.80 17 29 Alexander Bruch 10 Hibriten 21:27.00 18 30 Cohen Lemly 10 Ashe County 21:32.00 19
Top 30, Women’s Division
1 Cali Townsend 9 Watauga 20:25.00 1 2 Annabelle Stewart 12 Watauga 20:28.00 2 3 Janie Beach-Verhay 11 Watauga 21:08.00 3 4 Josephine Walker 10 Watauga 22:35.00 4 5 Lainey Johnston 10 Watauga 22:37.00 5 6 Lily Kimbrough 9 Watauga 22:38.00 6 7 Emory Taylor 12 Ashe County 22:54.00 7 8 Evie Pyles 12 Ashe County 23:48.00 8 9 Makenzi Pyatte 11 Alexander Central 23:49.00 9 10 Clara Noble 11 South Caldwell 24:01.00 10 11 Ama Higgs 10 Hibriten 24:06.30 11 12 Lydia Hendren 12 Alexander Central 24:06.80 12 13 Riley Benson 9 Watauga 24:19.00 13 14 Julia Benson 9 Watauga 24:20.00 15 Susanna Goff 10 Watauga 24:21.00 16 Hope Cox 11 Alexander Central 24:22.00 14 17 Mia Grace Llibre 12 Watauga 24:26.00 18 Abby Bingham 12 Ashe County 24:27.00 15 19 Sophie Parker 10 Watauga 24:36.00 20 Sydney Townsend 11 Watauga 24:57.00 21 Ava Smith 12 Alexander Central 25:03.00 16 22 Audrey Satterwhite 10 Ashe County 25:08.00 17 23 Anna Norris 11 Watauga 25:11.00 24 Carrie Bradbury 10 Watauga 25:13.00 25 Katherine Rex 10 Watauga 25:37.00 26 Bailey Collins 11 Watauga 25:39.00 27 Noelle Bollman 9 Watauga 25:43.00 28 Kara Schneider 12 Watauga 25:48.00 29 Aaliah Macias 10 Hibriten 26:13.00 18 30 Tessa Roupe 12 Alexander Central 26:18.00 19
