2006 All-Western North Carolina Boys and Girls CC Teams announced

The following article is from the December 15^th, 2006 edition of the Asheville Citizen-Times.

BOYS COACH OF THE YEAR

Janet Pung

Owen

Despite losing every one of her scoring runners from back-to-back state championship teams to graduation, Pung guided the Warhorses to the Western Highlands Conference title and a fourth-place finish at the NCHSAA 2-A meet on Nov. 4. The WHC championship was the third straight for Owen, which had only one senior. Pung said in October that her fourth year at Owen would be the last since she is moving to Greensboro with her family.

BOYS RUNNER OF THE YEAR

Josh Dubin

Roberson

Senior

Dubin capped his final year with the Rams by placing second at the NCHSAA 3-A meet on Nov. 4 with a time of 16 minutes, 5.6 seconds. The week before he finished second to the same runner, Hickory junior Ryan Hill, at the 3-A Western Regional meet. Notable victories for Dubin included the Buncombe County and Mountain Athletic Conference meets, as well as the Owen, West Henderson and Volunteer (Tenn.) invitationals.

Rett English

Christ School

Junior

English improved on a seventh-place finish in the 2005 NCISAA 3-A meet by winning his first career state championship a year later on Oct. 27. English ran a time of 16 minutes, 38.90 seconds to cross the line first at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons with a considerable cushion between himself and runner-up Clay Sankey (17:24.84) of Charlotte Providence Day. English also won the Piedmont Athletic Conference of Independent Schools meet and the junior division race at the Foot Locker South Region meet Nov. 25 in Charlotte.

Davis Graham

Carolina Day

Junior

Graham successfully defended his NCISAA 2-A state championship from 2005 by winning Oct. 27 with a time of 16 minutes, 32.12 seconds at Clemmons’ Tanglewood Park. Graham was also the Carolina Athletic Association Runner of the Year.

Daniel Hamilton

Franklin

Senior

Hamilton placed sixth at the NCHSAA 3-A meet, running a time of 16 minutes, 34.41 seconds. He was seventh in the 3-A Western Regional meet, the runner-up at the Mountain Athletic Conference meet and third in the Volunteer (Tenn.) Invitational.

John Harwell

Asheville

Freshman

Harwell was the top freshman at the NCHSAA 3-A meet, finishing ninth with a time of 16 minutes, 37.16 seconds. The next ninth-grader to cross the line Nov. 4 in Clemmons was teammate Isaac Presson (37th place, 17:22.10). Harwell also placed fifth at the 3-A Western Regional meet and sixth at the Mountain Athletic Conference meet.

Kyle Ingram

Hayesville

Senior

Ingram cruised to his first individual state championship on Nov. 4, beating the rest of the field by more than 40 seconds to win the NCHSAA 1-A meet with a time of 16 minutes, 21.30 seconds. Ingram was also the Smoky Mountain Conference Runner of the Year.

Andrew North

Asheville

Senior

North placed third at the NCHSAA 3-A meet with a time of 16 minutes, 6.29 seconds. He was third at the 3-A Western Regional and Mountain Athletic Conference meets and second to Citizen-Times All-WNC Runner of the Year Josh Dubin from Roberson at the Volunteer (Tenn.), Owen and West Henderson invitationals.

HONORABLE MENTION

Asheville: Isaac Presson

Asheville Christian Academy: Jesse Thornburg

Asheville School: Ben Rhodes and Matt Bryant

Carolina Day: Eric Edgerton and Will Jordan

Enka: Wesley Crouse and Aaron Wells

Hayesville: Levi Gentle, Sean Henrickson, Ryan Gentle and Paul Anderson

Mitchell: Dakota Norris

North Buncombe: Matt Pomfrey, Nic Carswell and Tyler Benton

Owen: Chris Patino, Joey Murphy, Cody Neville, Chris Meriweather, Robert Dobbs, Nick Wilson and Sam Sawyer

Roberson: Ben Dawson, Josh Pickett, Samuel Kovach, Eric Fichtel and Sho Kitamura

GIRLS COACH OF THE YEAR

Brian Schultz

Asheville

In his fourth year as Asheville’s coach, Schultz led the Cougars girls to a runner-up finish at the NCHSAA 3-A and Mountain Athletic Conference meets. Asheville’s place at the state meet was the best in school history and six of Schultz’s runners who scored on Nov. 4 are expected to return in 2007.

GIRLS RUNNER OF THE YEAR

Marley Burns

Carolina Day

Senior

Burns, a repeat winner as the Citizen-Times All-WNC Runner of the Year, easily captured the first individual cross country state championship of her career on Oct. 27, running a time of 19 minutes, 14.69 seconds to win the NCISAA 2-A meet. Furthermore, with teammate Eirann Cohen coming in second place, the Wildcats easily brought home the 2-A team championship (48 points) over runner-up Fayetteville Academy (84). Burns was also named the Carolina Athletic Association Runner of the Year and won the championship division of the WNC Cross Country Carnival along with the West Henderson, Western Carolina University, Greensboro and 4-Runners Only invitationals. Burns was the second-fastest girl from North Carolina (18:04) at the Foot Locker South Regional meet on Nov. 25 at Charlotte’s McAlpine Greenway.

Kristin Brock

Roberson

Senior

Brock placed 14th at the NCHSAA 3-A meet with a time of 19 minutes, 59.8 seconds after placing 12th at the 3-A Western Regional meet and fourth in both the Buncombe County and Mountain Athletic Conference meets.

Stephanie Chapman

Roberson

Junior

Chapman finished fourth at the NCHSAA 3-A meet on Nov. 4 by running a time of 19 minutes, 27.64 seconds. She was third at the Buncombe County and 3-A Western Regional meets and fifth at the Mountain Athletic Conference meet.

Jordan Gaddy

Enka

Senior

Gaddy placed a career-best third at the NCHSAA 3-A meet by running a time of 19 minutes, 23.15 seconds on Nov. 4. In addition, Gaddy was the runner-up at the 3-A Western Regional meet, sixth at the Mountain Athletic Conference meet, and won the Owen Invitational.

Cara Hayes

Asheville

Junior

Hayes placed ninth at the NCHSAA 3-A meet by running a time of 19 minutes, 47.67 seconds on Nov. 4. Her all-state showing allowed the Cougars to finish a surprising second behind 3-A team champion Roberson (46 points) with 106 points. Hayes was sixth at the 3-A Western Regional meet.

Caroline Kirby

Roberson

Junior

Kirby successfully defended her individual state championship from 2005 by winning the NCHSAA 3-A meet on Nov. 4 with a time of 19 minutes, 9.34 seconds. Her performance also allowed the Rams girls to capture their eighth team state championship in the last 10 years and ninth overall. No other program in NCHSAA history has won as many team titles. Other notable victories for Kirby came at the Buncombe County, Mountain Athletic Conference and 3-A Western Regional meets.

Sarah Willingham

North Henderson

Sophomore

Willingham won the Western Athletic Conference and 2-A Western Regional meets before finishing third in the NCHSAA 2-A meet on Nov. 4 with a time of 19 minutes, 29 seconds. Willingham’s personal record of 19:06 came at the Asheville Track Club Fall Classic on Sept. 28.

HONORABLE MENTION

Asheville: Kelsey Hanger

Asheville Christian Academy: Kelly Gillikin and Tori Lovett

Asheville School: Anna Ranson and Jessica Goodman

Carolina Day: Eirann Cohen and Rebecca Griffin

East Henderson: Heidi Waldbart

Enka: Taylor Erwin

Franklin: Hannah Moore

Hayesville: Stella Snowden, Nancy Kelly, Heather Richbourg and Holly Runstrom

Hendersonville: Marissa Blake, Veronica Olsen and Julie Ann Walker

North Buncombe: Ashley Miller, Miranda Schmidt and Rachel Winterling

North Henderson: Jessica Stewart and Christina Storm

Owen: Jessie Karriker, Bekah Phipps, Cheyenne Stavely, Sarah Walker and Kellsi Wallace

Roberson: Kylie Smith, Zoe Dubin, Claire Duval, Hannah McArdle, Sarah Dugan, Laura Hoer, Elise Bare and Megan Brock