Watauga girls

third in finals
By Steve Behr

CLEMMONS — Watauga coach Randy McDonough thought that if things went according to plan, the girls’ cross country team could win the state 4-A championship at the Tanglewood Park course.

Things didn’t go exactly to plan since East Chapel Hill won the state championship with 94 points. Still, the Pioneers finished in a second-place tie with Green Hope with 115 points.

However, since Green Hope had a better finish with its sixth-place runner than the Pioneers, Green Hope was awarded second place, leaving Watauga with third.

“They ran very hard,” McDonough said. “Today, it was sort of like 1998 when Cary did what they did. East Chapel Hill came to run today and they did very well.”

Watauga’s Kristina Kanagy finished 10th overall, which earned her all-state recognition. Kanagy finished the 5K course with a time of 19 minuets, 16.66 seconds.

“I was really nervous,” Kanagy said. “I just wanted our team to work together, come out here and do as well as we could.”

“Kristina’s been great,” McDonough added. “She’s been a joy to coach. I’ve had her for two years and I wish I could have had her for four. I am going to miss her very much. She is a leader on this team and the girls really look up to her.”

She was one of two Pioneers to finish in the top 20. Hannah Barbour, a freshman, was 20th overall with a time of 19:43.66.

Barbour was actually passed close to the finish by two runners, but turned on an extra burst of speed to retake 20th place.

“She’s been a tough little runner all year long,” McDonough said. “I look forward to the next three years with us. She’s made a difference in our team.”

Kayla Schneider finished 26th overall with a 19:48.36.

Amanda Carringer was 50th with a time of 20:20.45. Catherine Culatta was the next Pioneer to cross the finish line with a time of 21:18.90, followed by Bridgette McLean, who was 52nd with a 20:22.39.

Hailey Middlebrook was next with a 22:01.50.

“She and Kristina have carried us throughout the year,” McDonough said of Schneider and Kanagy. “They’ve both been great leaders.”

Kimberly Spano of North Mecklenburg won the race with a time of 18:04.02, easily outpacing second place Carolyn Baskir of East Chapel Hill, who ran an 18:24.42.

Watauga’s boys team settled for 12th place overall with 102 points. Raleigh Broughton won the event with 51 points, followed by East Chapel Hill with 94 points.

Will Barbour turned in Watauga’s best time. The senior finished 30th overall with a time of 16:48.00. Dylan Carp was 36th overall with a time of 16:54.59.

“The course is pretty demanding when you get back into the woods,” Barbour said. “There’s a hill right before the mile mark, so I was trying to move up before the mile mark. The second time, that was when I knew I had to go because there’s not that much time left or energy to move up.”

Daniel Osborne and Wesley Templeton finished back-to-back with Osborne turning in a time of 17:43.43 and Templeton a time of 17:43.78.

Justin Martin ran an 18:01.31 and freshman Andrew Vandenburg ran an 18:16.55. Two spots behind Vandenburg was Thomas McDonough, who ran an 18:19.01.

“They ran their hearts out today,” Randy McDonough said. “I was very proud of them. We have a lot of people on the team running their first state meet. Basically, Will, Dylan and Wesley were the ones on the team who have seen this kind of competition before. They went into it, they learned something and hopefully we’ve got some people coming back who can show the way for us next year.”