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(Source: The Charlotte
Observer, Sunday - November 2, 1980.)
Dowdle Cheered To Title By Sam Fulwood III - Observer Staff Writer Myers
Park's Ken Dowdle owns the 1980 N.C. high school boys' cross country championship
title. In part, he credits a cheering hometown crowd for helping him win it. His high
recognition factor didn't hurt either. About 500 spectators watched Dowdle's course-
record 15:28 run over the 5,000-meter course at McAlpine Greenway Park in east
Charlotte. In addition, they saw McDowell High ninth-grader Charlotte McCall set a
course record 19:14.9 in the first girls' state cross country championships. Chapel
Hill swept both the boys' and girls' team titles. Richmond County finished second and
East Mecklenburg tied Greensboro Grimsley for third in the boys' event. South
Mecklenburg was second among the girls. Many spectators were coaches or relatives of
the runners, but most apparently were familiar with Dowdle. He was the runner most
spectators craned their necks to watch, and he received noisy encouragement as the
runners approached the course's major hill. "I appreciated that a whole lot,"
Dowdle said after the race. "Once I hear people cheer for me, I want to run that much
better. I heard the crowd at the bottom of the hill. They were all lined up there and
cheering. That made me run faster and harder up the hill. I just sprinted up it. That
was the best I've ever run the hill." Dowdle bettered the 15:33.4 course record set
by Ken Costello Sept. 12 at the Coaches' Invitational. Garner's Rick Wallace also
bettered the previous course record, finishing in 15:31. North Iredell's Robert
Baker was third at 15:35. McCall topped the girls' course record of 19:35.4 set by
Myers Park's Lene Hestdal in the Coaches' Invitational. She said she didn't enter
with thoughts of setting a record. But did she think she would win? "No I didn't,"
she said. "You've always gotta have confidence, but I'd heard a lot about the other
people." McCall said her strategy was to keep up with the lead runner and take the
lead near the finish. It
didn't work out exactly as she planned though. She led nearly all the way. East
Forsyth's Leslie Ladd, the girls' individual runner-up at 19:17, said she and McCall
were shoulder-to-shoulder until they cleared the final wooded part of the course,
with about a half mile remaining. "We were competing the whole way," Ladd said.
"She just had a stronger kick." Hestdal, who won the Charlotte Sectional on the same
course, finished third at 19:39. The Chapel Hill boys, defending state champions,
scored 77 points -- 21 fewer than Richmond. East Meck and Grimsley had 100. Gary
Adams, who coaches both Chapel Hill teams, said he especially wanted the girls to win.
"That's one thing we were shooting for -- to be the first to do it," said Adams.
"I felt real confident. They (the girls' team) had beaten most of the strong competition
during the regular season." The Tiger girls scored 77 points, seven fewer than second
place South Mecklenburg. Durham Jordan was third with 98. Myers Park, second last week
in the Charlotte Sectional, was eighth this time. The meet, run at Campbell University
in Buies Creek the previous two years, was the second state high school championship
in Charlotte this week. The state girls' volleyball championship was played Thursday
at Garinger High. It was the first time the state cross country meet had been held
in Charlotte. "I've never in 15 years seen one (a state cross country meet) better
organized and better run," said Charlie Adams, assistant director of the N.C. High
School Athletic Association. "I wish all our state meets were like this." Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Schools athletic director Dave Harris said that would be fine with him.
"We want to keep it," Harris said. "And we're interested in getting anything else we
can -- like the state track meet."
High Marks Given to Girls' 1st State Meet
by Susan Shackelford
(High School Sports Column, The Charlotte Observer) Stephanie Hammett of East Burke High
threw some trash in a barrel after her race, Charlie Adams of the N.C. High School
Athletic Association watched runners finish, and the team from Fayetteville E.E. Smith
told an interesting story. But they had two things in common. Saturday morning,
they had gathered for the first running of the N.C. girls' cross country championships,
run on a breezy sunny day at McAlpine Greenway Park; and they all thought the first
season of the state's organized program for girls in the sport had been successful.
And it has been. Only 151 of the 342 schools in the N.C. High School Association have
boys' cross country, and this year 67 schools had at least one girl runner. That's a
good showing for a sport that in largely individual and requires a lot of self-
motivation to ensure proper conditioning. The girls competed in five sectional meets
last week -- just like the boys. In Charlotte's Southwestern 4A conference, six of the
10 schools had full girls' teams (five runners). And originally, there probably would
have been more, because league coaches had planned to field teams this season and score
the top three runners. But when the state association went ahead and adopted the
sport, the coaches decided to field full, five-girl teams. "We can't expect overnight
miracles," said East Mecklenburg coach Larry McAfee, "but it's been a positive step
to me." Hammett had similar feelings. "I felt it went real well. We got the
conference and the sectional, and it's going to help us in track this spring." She
said she didn't believe the national jogging boom was responsible for the participation
this year. "Girls, more in general, are getting into athletics," she said. Nearby,
as Adams, the association's assistant executive director, watched the first girl
runners cross the finish line, he turned to a spectator and said, "Tremendous -- I
bet it (participation) will double next year." "It's such an inexpensive sport," he
explained, as runners walked through the finish chute in front of him. "It's such a
good sport, and it's got such good carryover value." The sport also helped fill a
void in the association's fall sports offerings this year. Association officials
dropped girls' golf because only 14 qualified for the state championship last season --
down from more than 80 the first year of a golf title, 1969. "We hated to get out
of the golf business," said association executive director Simon Terrell, contacted
by telephone Friday, "(but) we just couldn't justify a state championship with 14
people. "We polled the schools, and far more indicated they were interested in
cross country." If fact, many already had teams or one or two girls running on the
boys' teams. And this is where E.E. Smith's story fits in. Somehow, word never
got to E.E. Smith and its conference, the Division 3 4A, that the state cross
country distance was 5,000 meters (3.12 miles). So, the schools kept right on
running 2 miles, the distance they'd used for girls the last several years.
Well, E.E. Smith and league member Fayetteville Westover didn't find out the new
distance until they arrived at the sectional last week at Smithfield, about 30
miles east of Raleigh. "There was a breakdown in communication," said E.E. Smith
coach Jim Van Hook. But you might not have known it once the sectional had
ended. The Fayetteville schools swept the top two places, qualifying for the state
meet. "We took it in stride," Van Hook said, "and I believe the girls did an
especially good job." "I think we were really determined not to let it psych us
out," said Smith's Jenny Girouard. "We also were determined because it was the first
sectional for girls -- for the record books." Indeed.
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Myers Park's Ken Dowdle approaches the finish
(Photo by Mark B. Sluder, Charlotte Observer)
Individuals
1. Ken Dowdle Charlotte Myers Park 15:28.0 State Meet Record
2. Rick Wallace Garner 15:31
3. Robert Baker North Iredell 15:35
4. Harry Williams Greenville Rose 15:36 Update
5. Jimmy Nicholson Randleman 15:58
6. Leon Yates Chapel Hill 15:59
7. Mike Moses Greensboro Grimsley 16:02
8. Ken Smith Greenville Rose 16:03
9. David Neish Chapel Hill 16:06
10. Mike Sparks Winston-Salem Reynolds 16:12
11. Phil Roberts East Gaston 16:15
12. Victor Robinson Richmond County 16:20
13. Mark Shea Raleigh Broughton 16:21
14. Tony Hills Wilson Fike 16:22
15. Van Wilkins Asheville 16:23
16. Paul Brim Greensboro Page 16:24
17. Allen Ford Greensboro Grimsley 16:26
18. Ken Forman East Mecklenburg 16:27
19. David Johnson DB 16:32
20. Johnny Evans North Forsyth 16:39
21. Mike Loveless East Wake 16:42
22. Kirk Hardymon East Mecklenburg 16:45
23. Greg Douglas Richmond County 16:46
24. Bill Will Gastonia Ashbrook 16:48
25. David Colby New Bern 16:48
26. Chris Gibson Richmond County 16:52
27. Mike Covington Richmond County 16:53
28. Tommy Albanese Greensboro Grimsley 16:57
29. Dennis McNamara Chapel Hill 16:57
30. Chris Baker Asheville AC Reynolds 16:58
31. Greg Duval New Bern 16:59
32. Dan Seaborn East Mecklenburg 17:00
33. Bryant Little Winston-Salem Reynolds 17:03
34. Steve Dew Wilson Beddingfield 17:06
35. Nate Berry Winston-Salem Reynolds 17:07
36. Dirk Dawson Winston-Salem Reynolds 17:07
37. Matthew Ledford Asheville AC Reynolds 17:08
38. David Young Chapel Hill 17:09
39. Bernard Roberts Oxford JF Webb 17:10
40. Kyle Fidler East Mecklenburg 17:10
41. John Ormond Greenville JH Rose 17:11
42. Danny Wright Asheville AC Reynolds 17:11
43. Tim Fry Greensboro Grimsley 17:13
44. Chris Sheppard Asheville Erwin 17:16
45. Paul Heffernan Chapel Hill 17:17
46. Donnie Pippin Asheville TC Roberson 17:19
47. Kenneth Perry Oxford JF Webb 17:20
48. Chip Litle Greenville JH Rose 17:21
49. Steve Hughes Winston-Salem Reynolds 17:23
50. Tim Long New Bern 17:25
51. Doug Houghton East Mecklenburg 17:26
52. Eric Davis Asheville AC Reynolds 17:32
53. Karl Spielvogel Chapel Hill 17:32
54. Milton Todd Oxford JF Webb 17:33
55. Reggie Harris Asheville TC Roberson 17:36
56. Eugene Sumrell New Bern 17:38
57. Jimmy Toole Winston-Salem Reynolds 17:39
58. Brian Connell New Bern 17:39
59. Keith Terry Oxford JF Webb 17:41
60. Joe Willis Greensboro Grimsley 17:43
61. John Lancaster East Mecklenburg 17:45
62. Steve Carpenter Asheville TC Roberson 17:49
63. Eddie Jones Asheville AC Reynolds 17:51
64. Terry White New Bern 17:56
65. Chris Harris East Mecklenburg 17:58
66. James Thompson Asheville TC Roberson 17:59
67. David Britt Asheville TC Roberson 18:04
68. Fred Burr Richmond County 18:06
69. Mitchell Diamond Oxford JF Webb 18:09
70. Curt Dansby Chapel Hill 18:12
71. Phil Foster Greensboro Grimsley 18:14
72. Jack Puckett Oxford JF Webb 18:18
73. James Covington Richmond County 18:24
74. John Thorpe Oxford JF Webb 18:25
75. Jeff Cauble Asheville AC Reynolds 18:27
76. Paul Pfefferkorn Winston-Salem Reynolds 18:38
77. Grant Newman Asheville AC Reynolds 18:45
78. Richard Staten New Bern 18:47
79. Larry Talbert Greenville JH Rose 18:51
80. Curt Spillers Richmond County 19:04
81. Steve Soltez Greensboro Grimsley 19:08
82. Alan Collier Asheville TC Roberson 19:41
83. Dave Steffensen Greenville JH Rose 20:33
(83 finishers)
