Eric Gillis and Zachary Marchinko
By Mike London
Salisbury Post
CHINA GROVE — Records fell and plaques and medals piled up as Carson cross country standout Eric Gillis boldly went where no Rowan County runner had gone before.
Gillis broke a passel of records, most of them marks previously held by his own coach — Zachary Marchinko. Gillis ran the quickest 5K ever recorded by a Rowan runner (15:14) as well as the fastest time ever recorded in the county meet (15:40).
“The senior season Eric had solidifies him as one the best high school distance runners in Rowan County history,” Marchinko said. “He’s one of the most disciplined athletes I’ve ever been around, as a runner or as a coach.”
Gillis obviously has some talent for running, but natural gifts aren’t enough. Cross country record-breakers are products of years of sweat, blood and sacrifice. Gillis is no exception. As a freshman, it looked like he might be a good runner, but he became much more than that. He became a terrific one.
“We didn’t have cross country in middle school, but we did have track, so I was able to get started in distance running and I liked it,” Gillis said. “My freshman year at Carson was where it really started to get serious.”
As a freshman, he ran 18:54 in the Rowan County Championships and finished ninth. That wasn’t bad at all for a ninth-grader new to the sport, but he wanted more and worked to get more. South Rowan phenom Eli Julian was setting a torrid pace in the county, and Carson coaches Les-Lee Ihme and Marchinko were putting together an army of runners to chase him.
As a sophomore, in the fall of 2023, Gillis was part of a super team. Cougars ran 2-3-4-5 behind Julian in the Rowan County Championships. Gillis had improved tremendously from his freshman season and ran 17:12 for fourth place. Carson was regional champion and was a strong contender on the state level.
Gillis’ junior season, Carson wasn’t as deep, but Julian had graduated, and most of the races belonged to Cougars Jorge Clemente-Garcia and Gillis. They ran 1-2 most of the season, including the Rowan County Championships where Gillis turned in a strong 16:37 clocking to finish second to his teammate. They pushed each other all season, and both benefited. Their times kept dropping.
“Having Jorge to run with and train with, that helped me a lot,” Gillis said.
In the 3A State Championships, Gillis and Clemente-Garcia were almost side-by-side. Gillis took fourth place, edging his teammate, who was fifth.
“That state meet was kind of a breakout race for me,” Gillis said. “When you finish fourth in the state, you can see all the work paying off. I gained some confidence. That strong finish provided the motivation to have a really good senior year.”
Clemente-Garcia graduated in the spring of 2025, moving on to do big things at Pfeiffer University. He was the USA South Freshman of the Year, competing for Bob Marchinko, Zachary’s father. Clemente-Garcia was one of three Pfeiffer qualifiers at the national level.
Gillis trained like a Marine during the summer before his senior year, knowing he was now the leader for his program and his school.
“He’s been a really excellent leader,” Zachary Marchinko said. “Constantly leading by example and encouraging and inspiring his teammates.”
Gillis’ dedication to distance running goes well beyond putting in the necessary mileage to build endurance and speed. He works hard to everything right.
“It’s important to get enough calories and the right amount of rest,” he said. “Coach (Zachary) Marchinko has been a big help in that regard. He’s very knowledgeable about training, as well as racing.”
Gillis came out of the gate like Secretariat in his first meet of the season in August — the Carolinas Kickoff held on the Metrolina Christian course. Gillis ran the fastest time that had ever been run there. He clocked 15:14 to not only win the race, but to break the school and county records. Zachary Marchinko had run 15:22 for the Cougars in a meet in 2016.
In September, Gillis ran 15:18 on Pfeiffer’s course, and he never let up. His discipline never wavered.
Gillis clocked 15:40 to win the Rowan County Championships for the first time, four seconds faster than Marchinko had run in the event in 2015. Gillis and Kara Crotts gave Carson a sweep of the county individual boys and girls championships for the first time in 20 seasons of competing in the sport.
He won the South Piedmont Conference title and he won the regional championship.
He crowned his season with fourth place in the 5A State meet in 15:45.
“The regional and state meets were run on my favorite course at the Ivey Redmon Complex in Kernersville,” Gillis said. “I say that because it’s a true cross country course. You can run a good time at Ivey Redmon, but it’s a challenge to run a good time.”
Gillis said the toughest course he’s competed on was at Wake Med Park in Cary. That course features a king-sized hill.
Gillis has improved from 18s as a freshman, to 17s as a sophomore, to 16s as a junior, and he was steady in the 15s as a senior.
Exactly how good he can get is something fans won’t find out until he’s running 8Ks in college.
“I know for a fact he’s going to keep elevating even further when he gets to college,” Zachary Marchinko said. “Words can’t explain how proud I am of him and what he’s accomplished.”
Gillis won’t be finished as a Cougar for a while yet. He’s expected to be a distance force in the indoor track and field season as well as the outdoor track season. He runs year-round.
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South Rowan won the Rowan County Meet, as it so often does. West Rowan probably had the deepest team this year, but didn’t have its No. 1 runner, Luke Henson, the school-record holder, for the county meet.
West had everyone for the South Piedmont Conference Championships and won that event. South was short-handed for the conference meet.
South Rowan, West Rowan and Carson competed in three different regionals, with South in 4A, Carson in 5A Central and West Rowan in 5A West. All three qualified to compete at the state level.
The All-Rowan County team was determined by the top 12 finishers in the county meet held at Dan Nicholas Park in October.
Carson — (1) Eric Gillis, (8) Chance Simmons, (10) Landis Sides
South — (2) Garrison Raper, (4) Ethan Overby, (6) Sam Noe, (7) Keaton Sloop
West — (3) Jayden Romero, (5) Jonathan Medina, (9) Rafael Quintero, (12) Cohen Dennis
Salisbury — (11) Samuel Fatovic
