MORGANTON — One week after winning the Northwestern 4-A Conference championship at Freedom High School, Watauga’s boys’ cross country team added a regional title to its resume.

The Pioneers, on the same course on which they cruised to a NWC win, placed four runners in the top 14 and won the state 4-A Western Regional Saturday. Watauga’s team qualified for the state meet, which is this Saturday at Tanglewood Park in Winston-Salem.

Watauga’s girls’ team also advanced to the state meet by finishing in third place. The boys run at 2:30 p.m., while the girls will run an hour later.

“I was very proud of the boys team,” Watauga coach Randy McDonough said. “They set this goal way back during track season and worked hard to get here. It shows what drive, focus and setting goals can do for a team.”

Ben Vollmer was the top finisher for the Pioneers, taking third place with a time of 16 minutes, 22 seconds. Vollmer was one second off second place finisher Alex Taylor of Providence.

Andrew Zizzi, of Myers Park, was the overall winner with a time of 16:13. Watauga won with 61 points.

Myers Park was second overall with 67 points, followed by Ardrey Kell, which finished with 88 points.

Providence was a distant fourth with 136 points.

“We hadn’t had a front runner all season,” McDonough said of Vollmer. “It help us to have him be in single digits.”

Vollmer’s teammate, Jay Weaver, was eighth overall with a time of 16:43. Weaver was the top finisher a week earlier at the conference race. Jordan Trivette was 12th overall with a 16:49, followed by Will Barbour, who finished 14th with a 16:51.

McDonough was impressed with Zeb Sanders’ 24th-place finish, mostly because Sanders was able to pass other runners late in his race to finish with a time of 17:10.

“He passed eight people coming down to the finish line,” McDonough said. “He picked up a lot of slack because Wesley Templeton was sick and had a hard time Saturday.”

Templeton finished with a time of 18:26, good for 55th overall. Dylan Carp was 33rd overall with a 17:34.
Watauga’s girls were led by Bridgette McLean and Kayla Schneider, who finished 11th and 12th respectively. McLean turned in a time of 19:48 and Schneider ran a 19:51.

Amanda Carringer was close to her two teammates, finishing 15th with a time of 19:57. Kristina Kanagy also stayed close to the pack by finishing 19th. Her time was 20:04.

Dolly Dollars was two places behind Kanagy, finishing with a 20:11. Ruth Smith was 52nd and Hillary Prevost was 57th overall.

McDonough said the Pioneers’ pack running helped them in the overall standings.

“A lot of coaches came up to me afterward and said what a great pack Watauga had, so I enjoyed hearing that,” McDonough said.

South Caldwell’s standout runner, Tara Wilson, won the race with a time of 18:41. South Caldwell had two other runners finish in the top 26, but the Spartans did not qualify for the state meet as a team. Myers Park won the team event with 37 points, followed by Providence with 65 and Watauga with 80.

Weddington was fourth with 114, three less than South Caldwell’s 117. The top four teams and the top five runners not on one of those teams qualified for the state meet.

McDonough said the Freedom course was soft from the rain that fell last week, but it was not muddy. The fog that rolled in the previous night was gone by the time the races began.

“It was a little soft,” McDonough said. “I was surprised. We’ve run there before and there has been standing water. It was a little softer, but after the big hill, it wasn’t a problem.”

Watauga has not run on the Tanglewood course this season, but traveled to Winston-Salem to run on it Monday. He said the course can add seconds to a runner’s time. But in the state meet, finishing in front of the other runner is more important than turning in a personal record.

“It’s a slower course,” McDonough said. “It’s not all that tough, but it can add 40-to-45 seconds to a time. But we just need to get in front of the other colored jerseys.”