Christ School cross country runners had a magical moment last October, where the Greenies stood in the Atlantic Ocean with waves lapping at their feet as they held the first state championship trophy in school history.
After properly celebrating their win in Wilmington, then came a party back at the Head of School’s house with commemorative t-shirts, cake, and balloons. And finally, the rings.
Who could blame everyone for wanting to do it all over again?
Coach Randy Ashley returns five of his top-seven runners from last year’s historic season and is confident that the Greenies, barring any unforeseen injuries, will be in the mix again when the NCISAA 4-A state meet is held Oct. 28, this time in Greensboro.
“Depth has always been our issue and we won’t really know our depth until we get the full squad in and get a couple meets under our belt. But we feel great about the core group coming back, the way that the guys got through track season, and some newcomers that we have,” Coach Ashley said.
“Obviously, we’d like to repeat (as state champions). That will be the team goal and we’ll have kids with their own individual goals as well. The number one key to the whole season is staying healthy.”
Defending NCISAA 4-A individual champion Rocky Hansen ’23 and Dawson Reeves ’24 went 1-2 in last year’s state meet. Eyob Gill ’24 (18th place), Kahzi Sealey ’23 (20th), Luke Parrish ’24 (36th) are also back from the team that beat state runner-up Durham Academy by 75 points.
Mid-year transfer Will Peeler ‘23 and Dawson’s younger brother, Dallas ’27, have a chance to crack the top-seven, Coach Ashley said, and he is equally impressed with the improvement that Patrick Wang ’24 made in the offseason.
“That’s seven there and we could have some surprises, too,” Coach Ashley said.
“Rocky asked me during the summer if he could take control and text workouts this summer, and he’s been keeping tabs on guys outside the top-seven. Our team is spread out all over the place, from Bermuda to Utah and Bethel. The one thing they know is that they have teammates who can count on each other. Personally, this is my favorite time of the year. I love cross country. I wish the season were twice as long as it is.”
The Greenies have 10 meets scheduled for this year. The only chance to see them race a full 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) at home falls on Oct. 5.