All-Rowan County girls cross country
By Mike London
Salisbury Post
CHINA GROVE — Her first day of Carson cross country practice in 2023, the last thing on Kara Crotts’ mind was breaking records. She was just hoping to live through it.
Things change with time and hard work still pays off.
Crotts, the Rowan County Runner of the Year, has made a sensational jump as a runner in the last two years. She is the fastest female Carson cross country ever has produced in the 20 years of the program. She ran 19:48 to break the school record by less than a second in the recent 5A State Championships in Kernersville. She edged Taylor Wiggins’ Carson mark that was set in state-level competition in 2016.
“It was definitely an important goal, so I’m glad I could break the record in my last race of the season,” Crotts said. “I knew it was going to be a very tough record to break, but I really did want to do it, and being in such a fast field at States helped me. There were some fast girls. I didn’t have to worry about trying to set a pace.”
Crotts, a junior, has been a runner for a number of years, getting her first exposure to the thrill of running in elementary school through the “Girls on the Run” program, She was a third-grader then.
Southeast didn’t have a cross country team, but it did offer track and field, so Crotts was able to continue to compete and progress some in middle school.
Still, high school cross country was a culture shock for Crotts, a whole new and scary experience for a small, shy freshman. Coach Les-Lee Ihme was nice, but she pushed the Cougars hard.
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh my, this is what I’m going to be doing all the time?” Crotts said. “I didn’t know if I was going to like it.”
As it turned out, Crotts liked cross country just fine, although the results didn’t materialize immediately.
As a freshman, she wasn’t one of Carson’s five scorers in the Rowan County Championships, but she’s a determined girl, and when the 2023 season was finished, Crotts wasn’t. She threw herself into distance running. It’s a demanding sport with lots of work and only occasional rewards and recognition, but she was going for it.
“She’s been a year-round runner the last two years with only a small break here and there,” Ihme said. “That’s why her times keep getting better and better.”
As a sophomore in the fall of 2024, Crotts began to make an impact for the Cougars. She wasn’t great yet, but she was getting faster. She was running 5Ks in the 22s. She was 13th in the South Piedmont Conference Championships that were dominated by the Lake Norman Charter girls. She ran seventh in the Rowan County Championships, helping Carson win the team title. That brought a smile to her face. All those miles had been worth it.
“I’ve had a lot of help from my teammates and coaches as my times started to improve,” Crotts said. “Zachary Marchinko (a Carson cross country legend and the son of Pfeiffer coach Bob Marchinko) competed in Division I for UNC Charlotte and he’s a big inspiration for all of the Carson distance runners.”
Last spring in the Robert Steele Rowan County Championships for outdoor track, Crotts placed second behind South Rowan’s Hope Julian in the 1600 and 3200.
Crotts continued to put in major mileage during the summer months and was well prepared for a big junior cross country season.
She ran 20:05 to take the Rowan County Championships on a Saturday morning and led the Cougars to another team title at Dan Nicholas Park, their 10th in the 20 years of the program. Carson had both the female and male (Eric Gillis) individual champions for the first time.
Carson then won the South Piedmont Conference Championships, with Crotts recording a 20:37 clocking on the hilly course at Salisbury Community Park.
In the 5A Central Regional, Crotts ran 19:53 for third place, not only qualifying for the State Championships but smashing through the 20-minute barrier for the first time. Wiggins’ school record was now in clear view.
“I really hoped Kara could break the school record this year,” Ihme said. “I realized there was a very good chance she could get the record as a senior, but you never know what’s going to happen. You can’t take anything for granted. Taylor Wiggins set her record as a junior, but then she had a fall and an injury.”
Crotts was struggling with a virus shortly before the state meet and she fights a frequent battle with athsma. She is never without her inhaler. She pushed through it.
“I did get sick so I was worried if I could do it right up to the start of the race,” Crotts said. “But then the race went smoothly.”
Crotts finished 14th, so there’s still work to do, more goals to set.
She won’t mind doing the work necessary to move up into the top 10 or even the top five next season. She loves to run. Carson does good things with runners. Lots of girls leave the Carson program as lifelong runners. They find peace and joy in it.
When Ihme started the Carson program 20 years ago, she was greeted by three runners on the first day of practice, but she found two more and was able to put together a season. Over the years, the Cougars gradually replaced Salisbury as the county’s dominant program and became a consistent winner. Carson is just about always first or second in the county.
Crotts is the latest standout in a long line of Carson individuals who have the drive to match their talent.
“We’re really proud of her,” Ihme said. “She’s the Eric Gillis of the girls program. By that I mean that she does everything right. The mileage, the nutrition, the proper rest, all of it. Kara is all-in.”
Crotts said she’ll take a few weeks off. Then it will be on to indoor track season.
All-County cross country runners were determined by a top 12 finish in the Rowan County Championships.
Carson —(1) Kara Crotts, (2) Karis Miller, (4) Julia Burleson, (9) Darlene Cruz
South — (3) Madalynn Gulledge, (5) Gracie Hinson, (7) Karrigan Cromer, (10) Ruby Reta, (12) Camille Siscoe
East — (6) Morgan Efird, (8) Rayla Wagoner, (11) Bronwynn Jones
Runner of the Year — Crotts
Coach of the Year — Les-Lee Ihme, Carson
