Rocky Hansen ’23 could never take another step and still be considered the greatest of all time in North Carolina high school distance running.
Five state records are as conclusive as it gets.
The Christ School senior attained record No. 5 Saturday, winning the Alexander/ASICS Invitational cross country meet in Fairburn, Ga., with a time of 14 minutes, 20.90 seconds.
As in the past, Rocky doesn’t just break records, he obliterates them. Saturday’s time was 24 seconds better than the previous North Carolina record for 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) and is the best time by any cross country runner in the nation this season.
“So, I just decided what I always do, race and run hard. And I just pushed the pace hard. I felt good and just tried to focus on my cadence,” Rocky said after the race.
Dawson Reeves ’24 came in third place Saturday with a personal record of 15:03.23. It is the fourth-fastest 5K time ever recorded by a junior from North Carolina.
The Greenies had made plans to race as a full team Saturday in Cary, N.C., and then Greensboro, N.C., but remnants of Hurricane Ian cancelled both meets. Rocky and Dawson therefore competed as unattached runners in Georgia, since Christ School did not have enough entrants to make a team.
Rocky has committed to run for Wake Forest University and his hometown is Hendersonville, N.C. He set four state records last track season: 1,600-meter run (3:59.27), 1-mile run (4:00.76), 3,200-meter run (8:43.90), and the 2-mile (8:46.97) run.