Kirsten Parries of Mount Airy didn't appear as if she had even broken stride in winning the NCHSAA 1-A cross-country championship yesterday at Beeson Park.
Parries, fresh off her dominant win in the Midwest 1-A regional last week at the same site, once again pulled away from the pack early and blistered the field, winning in 19:33.99.
Parries, a sophomore who finished sixth in the state championship last year, said that winning this year became her top priority after her performance last year.
"Ever since I walked out of here last year, it has been my plan to come back and win," Parries said. "I was going to get out front and just try to hold on for as long as I could, and at the second mile, get out in front as far as I could so I could have an easy finish."
Sarah Hardin of Lake Norman Charter finished in second place in 19:44.31, and Carly Kreber of Bishop McGuinness finished third.
Kreber, who was second at the Regional last week, said she thought she had Parries in her sights early. But before she knew it, Parries had opened a big lead.
"I let her get out ahead a little more than I would have liked," Kreber said. "When it came time to try and catch her, I knew I didn't have enough left to do it. Then I got passed near the chute. You always want to do better, but I am satisfied. I don't think I could have run any harder. And I'm only a sophomore, so I know exactly what I need to do next year."
Senior Stephen Mulherin of North Carolina School of Science and Math won the boys race in 15:56.59, easily outdistancing runner-up Dylan Johnson of Hayesville, who finished in 16:11.72.
Mulherin said that he wanted to go out and stay with his teammates early, then make his move around the two-mile mark.
"We wanted to stay together as long as possible, because we thought we had a pretty good shot at the team championship," Mulherin said. "When they dropped back a little bit, I just went ahead and made my move a little bit earlier. This feels really cool. I'm glad I get to go out on top."
NCSSM rolled to the boys team championship, finishing with 48 points. Its five scoring runners all placed in the top 19. Lake Norman Charter finished a distant second with 79 points, and Bishop McGuinness finished third with 100.
Zach Millsaps of Elkin (7th) and Sam Williams of McGuinness (9th) also had top-10 finishes and were All-State selections.
Lake Norman Charter edged McGuinness for the girls team championships, finishing with 55 points. McGuinness, which also had an eighth-place finish from Brianna Eichhorn, had 65 points.
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