SALISBURY — Carson’s girls won their third straight South Piedmont Conference championship in cross country on Saturday.
Individual champ for the second straight year, Kara Crotts led the Cougars to the team win at Salisbury Community Park. Crotts ran 19:14, 11 seconds faster than she clocked in the Rowan County Championships on the same course a week earlier.
“It’s amazing what she can do running with no one in sight of her,” Carson coach Les-Lee Ihme said. “I’m excited to see what she can do in the regional and state with girls running with her and pushing her.”
Crotts’ teammate Karis Miller was second in 20:41.
The Cougars posted a 1-2-6-9-12 finish for a team score of 30.
Giselle Perez Alvarez was sixth, with Caylee Miracco ninth and Heidi Ferrioli 12th.
East Rowan was second with a score of 48. Also posting team scores (that requires five runners) were South Rowan (77), Robinson (110), Concord (118) and NW Cabarrus (147).
Bronwyn Jones finished fourth in 20:48 to lead the Mustangs. Rayla Wagoner was seventh, while Avery Doty was 10th.
Karrigan Cromer was third in 20:44 to lead South. Camille Siscoe placed eighth.
The only Cabarrus runner in the top dozen runners was Robinson’s Callie Copeland. She took fifth.
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While Crotts breezed in the girls race, the SPC boys race was hotly contested.
West Rowan’s Jayden Romero backed up his Rowan County championship by winning again on Saturday.
Again, he finished 2 seconds ahead of South’s Ethan Overby. Romero was 5 seconds ahead of East Rowan’s Noah Trexler.
“Romero and Overby both ran 11 seconds faster than they did in the county meet,” South coach Trent Rivers said. “And this time Trexler was right there in the mix with them with 200 meters to go. Trexler took the lead, but then Romero and Overby overtook him. It was a super strong race by all three.”
South’s 2-5-6-9-14 finish produced a winning team score of 36.
West Rowan, third in the county meet behind South and East, took second this time, with 1-8-11-16-21 for a team score of 57.
Also posting team scores were East (73), Carson (108), Concord (127), Salisbury (165) and NW Cabarrus (176).
Salisbury’s Samuel Fatovic was fourth in 16:29. South’s Carson Raper, who set the pace for the first mile and a half of the race, ran 16:42 for fifth.
South’s Keaton Sloop was sixth, while Sam Noe was ninth.
East’s Allen Mares was seventh. West’s Jensen Foster placed eighth.
Seven of the top eight runners were seniors, with the lone exception being Trexler, a junior.
The only Cabarrus runner in the top 14 was Concord’s Bennett Sprinkle, He placed 10th.
Regional action is next Saturday for the SPC runners at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville.
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
The Rowan County volleyball season ended on Saturday, with Carson (33-4) losing 3-1 at Hickory in the 5A playoffs and South Rowan losing 3-2 at Forbush in the 4A playoffs.
Second-seeded Hickory (36-2) topped the Cougars 25-19, 20-25, 25-18 and 25-16.
Third-seeded South (21-6) won the first two sets at second-seeded Forbush (25-1), but the Falcons came back to win 19-25, 15-25, 25-14, 25-16 and 15-11.
Cressley Patterson had 31 kills, 16 digs and three blocks for the Raiders.
Mary Kate Okula had 13 kills. Nora Wheeler had six kills and 17 digs.
Tenley Shell had 29 digs and three aces.
Makenna Jones had 49 assists. Mallory Rhyne and Makenna Barham had 10 digs each.
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS TENNIS
West Rowan’s Olyvia Brown lost 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of the 5A State Championships in Holly Springs.
The Salisbury doubles team of Jillian Jarrell-Campbell Aron lost 6-4, 6-1 in the first round of the 4A State Championships in Burlington to the Carrboro team that won the state title.
LOCAL GOLF
East Rowan’s Cam Honeycutt shot 76-72 for seventh place in the high school division at the weekend Drip Golf Tour event held at the Country Club of Salisbury.
Next for Honeycutt is the Tarheel Youth Golf Association’s Bill Harvey Jr. Memorial at Colonial Country Club next weekend.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Hampden-Sydney kicker Hank Webb (Salisbury) has been named ODAC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Webb kicked a 23-yard field goal that proved decisive in a 31-28 win against Washington & Lee.
Webb was 4-for-4 on PATs and averaged 60.2 yards on six kickoffs with two touchbacks.
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Amir Alexander (North Rowan) had a 16-yard touchdown catch for Chowan in Saturday’s 38-21 loss to UNC Pembroke.
Alexander had five catches for 62 yards.
