KERNERSVILLE—Senior Tanis Baldwin of East Henderson put together a dominating performance to take the individual title in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 3-A men’s cross country championships at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Saturday's morning session.
Baldwin, who won the title in 2012 and was runner-up last year, finished about 36 seconds ahead of China Grove Jesse Carson’s Zachary Marchinko in a time of 15:25.83 in cold and wet conditions.
Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons took the men’s team title for the third time in four years, scoring 48 points to 66 for second-place Weddington, the defending champs. Chapel Hill was third at 83.
Anna Vess of Asheville A.C. Reynolds was the 3-A women’s winner in a time of 18:44.81, taking the lead with a mile to go and holding off Sophie Ebihara of Cardinal Gibbons.
Gibbons won the women’s team title with 42 points, with Chapel Hill in second with 73 and Marvin Ridge a point behind Chapel Hill in third.
In 2-A men’s competition, senior Nicholas Walker of Durham North Carolina School of Science and Math nipped defending individual champ Corbin Boyles of Maiden by just .14 seconds, with a winning time of 16:16.45.
NCSSM won its second consecutive men’s team title with 63 points, 16 ahead of Central Academy of Monroe. Durham School of the Arts was third at 109.
The Carrboro women continued their great showing in 2-A cross country, as Maysa Araba won the individual crown for the second straight year, and the fifth consecutive year a Carrboro runner has taken top honors. The winning time was 18:54.13, more than 28 seconds ahead of Carrboro teammate Helen Morken.
Carrboro won the team title for the fifth time in the last six years, scoring 59 points to 122 for runner-up East Lincoln, the defending champion. Sylva Smoky Mountain was third with 123.
The 1-A and 4-A championships are part of the afternoon session.
