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The Davie cross team traveled to Kernersville’s Ivey Redmon Park on Sept. 6 for the annual Friday Night Lights XC Festival. Nearly 4,000 athletes from over 100 high schools and several dozen middle schools competed at the site of November’s state championships. The Davie harriers acquitted themselves well against the best in the state and came away with numerous personal record performances.

Competing among 34 teams in the championship race in the night’s last race, the Davie boys came away with an 18th place finish behind such powerhouse teams as defending state champ Marvin Ridge and title contender Hoggard. The War Eagles were paced by senior Thomas Essic, who obliterated his previous best performance by 34 seconds. His time of 15:38 was good for seventh place and was 19 seconds behind race winner Kavi Gibson (15:19) from Cary Academy. Essic’s time is believed to be a Davie school record and is the only runner in memory to break 16 minutes on a certified 5k cross country course. That time would have placed him third at last year’s 4A state championships.   

Davie junior Ethan Lakey turned in a six-second PR as his time of 16:20 landed him in 33rd place in a field of 302 finishers. Classmates Brayden Kistner (17:37) and Logan Zuleger (17:56) placed 135th and 172nd, respectively. Sophomore Jacob Steelman had a personal record time 18:18 to claim 208th. Jackson Sulecki turned in another personal best time of 18:20 to finish 210th, while teammate Chris Devicente had a huge 31-second PR as he crossed the line in 216th with a time of 18:24. Tyler Hill rounded out the Davie effort with a time of 19:22.   

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The Davie girls competed in the Invitational Division and were led by a strong performance by junior Lexi Marion. Her time of 21:11 was just off of her previous best time and was good for 49th place in a field of 265 finishers.

Rachel Starkey was the next Davie runner across the line in 24:03. She was followed by Clara Phelps (25:16), Isabella Schilling (25:37) and Kinsley Shinsky (25:44). Schilling’s time was a new PR by 16 seconds.  Lake Norman’s Kasey Dingman took top honors in the championship race later in the evening in 17:49, the second fastest time ever at FNL.

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Several Davie boys competed in the sophomore/freshman JV race.  In a field of 454 finishers, Ty Greene turned in a 14-second PR of 20:38 to finish 153rd. Freshman Avery Van Lente, who just joined the team a week ago, turned in an impressive performance by crossing the line in 21:15. Patrick Brady was just off of his personal best time with a mark of 21:17. Tyler Deaver recorded a 12-second PR of 21:27.

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Davie was also well-represented in the two-mile coed developmental race. Finishers included Chad Hardin (14:42), Ronan Dailey (15:58), Liam Smith (17:04), Cheyenne Waller (18:31), Abby Lane (19:38), Maggie Smith (20:42), Alexa Villa (22:09) and Hayden Smith (22:19).    

“It was a bit of a mixed bag for us,” said coach Rob Raisbeck. “We had some really good performances as well as some steady efforts. In many respects, the boys championship race was more competitive than the state championship race due to the number of teams and the fact that there were some elite private school and 3-A teams in the field.  Thomas ran a spectacular race. Ethan tuned in another PR. Jacob, Jackson  and Chris all had PR’s. And for the girls, Lexie had another really good race. She will break 21:00 very soon.

“Going forward, we still have to ramp it up in the middle of the lineup. If this was a regional meet, we fall short of getting to the state meet by one place. The CPC is really strong again this year and we did not measure up to the performances of Reagan, Mt. Tabor and Reynolds. The good news is that if we would have run just a few seconds faster at the 3-5 spots, we beat a bunch of those teams. We have a lot of work to do but I think the team is determined to keep getting better.”

After a two-week break from racing, the team will return to action Sept. 21 at the Hare and Hounds Invitational at Charlotte’s McAlpine Park.

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Ellis was among several dozen middle school and club teams competing at the prestigious Friday Night Lights XC Festival. The two-mile middle school races served as a prelude to the high school races that followed.

The Ellis boys finished 13th out of 27 teams. Leading the effort was Jaxon Gay. His time of 11:59 was good for 21st place in a field of 272 finishers. Ian Rareshide placed 38th in a time of 12:42. Luke Lyday’s time of 12:52  was good for 44th.  Nirat Patel (18:19) and Samuel Paugh (21:58) also scored for Ellis.

In the girls race, Kristen Starkey sprinted across the line in ninth place in a field of 272 finishers as her effort led Ellis to an eighth place team finish in a field of 30 schools. Reece Rye placed 58th with a time of 14:47. She was followed by Berkley Brown in 90th (15:45). Charlotte Penry’s time of 15:48 was good for 92nd. She was the 13th-fastest sixth grader in the field. Also competing for Ellis were Daniela George Perez in 122nd (17:02), Emma Mallory in 134th (17:20) and Harper Kitner in 163rd (18:55).