Rocky Hansen ’23 could hear the pitter-patter of feet getting louder and shot a quick glance over his right shoulder for some confirmation Wednesday.
The junior had just enough left in the tank to hold off Dawson Reeves ’24. A photo finish was needed to declare a winner in a race so close that both Greenies were given the same time (15:31.0), right down to the tenth of a second.
Whether it was the individual or team championship, Christ School runners were their own best competition at the Carolinas Athletic Association Meet.
The Greenies knew the undulation and every twist and turn of their home course. It showed with the cross country program’s first CAA title since 2019, fourth since 2000, and ninth overall.
Christ School took seven of the eight spots on the All-CAA team with Rocky and Dawson followed to the line by Jackson Burch ’22 (third place, 16:08.6), Jack Cross ’22 (fourth, 16:49.3), Eyob Gill ‘24 (fifth, 16:57.0), Luke Parrish ‘24 (sixth, 17:17.1), and Kahzi Sealey ‘23 (seventh, 17:24.1). Matthew Luke ’22 placed 10th with a time of 17:24.1.
Rocky is the CAA Runner of the Year for the first time in his career and continues the Greenies’ streak of having the CAA individual champion every year since 2017. Jack, Eyob, Luke, and Kahzi made the all-conference team for the first time.
“It’s been quite a year,” Greenies coach Randy Ashley said.
“We’ve really been able to build a cross country culture here and I think it goes back to the success we’ve had in track. The guys are just locked-in right now. We’ve been building for these late-season races, so we can run our fastest. It’s just been a great group to work with.”
Additional photos from Wednesday can be found here and here.
Carolinas Athletic Association Championship Meet
Wednesday at Christ School
BOYS
Team scores
1. Christ School 15; 2. Asheville School 63; 3. Asheville Christian Academy 93; 4. Rabun Gap (Ga.) 102; 5. Carolina Day 116.
Individual results (Christ School runners)
1. Rocky Hansen 15:31.00; 2. Dawson Reeves 15:31.00; 3. Jackson Burch 16:08.60; 4. Jack Cross 16:49.30; 5. Eyob Gill 16:57.00; 6. Luke Parrish 17:17.10; 7. Kahzi Sealey 17:24.10; 10. Matthew Luke 17:58.40; 12. Ondrej Szkandera 18:20.20; 20. John Barton 19:16.70; 26. Patrick Wang 19:31.70; 30. Nate Wilberding 19:46.80; 33. A.J. Hesselson 19:53.80; 34. Rhodes Feild 19:55.50; 39. Vovi Lagutin 20:26.10; 40. Paul Mueller 20:35.40; 41. Nick Crowley 20:38.80; 46. Campbell Vernon 21:06.30; 50. Daniel Du 21:52.00; 51. Noah Graham 22:05.10; 52. Jack Higgins 22:06.60; 53. Kenny Hesselson 22:09.60; 58. Lansing Lewis 23:08.70; 59. Gavin Denton 23:27.00; 60. Jacob Beatty 23:49.40; 65. Bill Zhou 25:59.30.