1980 Sectionals

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Charlotte Sectional

BOYS: 1. Richmond County 62 2. East Mecklenburg 84 3. Charlotte Independence 99 4. Charlotte Myers Park 104 5. South Mecklenburg 119 6. Charlotte Harding 172 7. Wadesboro Bowman 174 8. East Lincoln 225 9. Gastonia Ashbrook 258 10. West Charlotte 298 11. North Gaston 305 12. Belmont South Point 311 13. West Mecklenburg 320 14. Kannapolis A.L. Brown 355 15. East Gaston 372 16. North Moore 491 1. Ken Dowdle Charlotte Myers Park 15:48.8 2. Phil Roberts East Gaston 15:57.4 3. Bill Will Gastonia Ashbrook 16:09.9 4. Guy Hartman Charlotte Myers Park 16:16.4 5. Ken Foreman East Mecklenburg 16:27.0 6. Victor Robinson Richmond County 16:35.8 7. Robert Crawford Charlotte Harding 16:37.8 8. Mike Covington Richmond County 16:48.4 9. Chris Gibson Richmond County 16:59.2 10. Greg Douglas Richmond County 16:59.9 GIRLS: 1. South Mecklenburg 34 2. Charlotte Myers Park 57 3. Charlotte Independence 94 4. East Mecklenburg 98 5. West Charlotte 103 6. West Mecklenburg 114 1. Lene Hestdal Charlotte Myers Park 19:41.6 2. Tina Beckedorf South Mecklenburg 20:06.0 3. Lisa Morales South Mecklenburg 20:35.4 4. Jill Britton South Mecklenburg 20:43.6 5. Shirley Truesdale West Mecklenburg 20:47.2 6. Amy Houser Gastonia Ashbrook 20:53.5 7. Alyson Nussear West Charlotte 21:00.7 8. Barbara Davey Charlotte Myers Park 21:10.5 9. Beverly Davey Charlotte Myers Park 21:16.1 10. Linda Wohlbruck West Charlotte 21:20.7 Source: The Charlotte Observer - Saturday - Oct. 25, 1980. Dowdle Outruns Opposition, Rain By Susan Shackelford, Observer Staff Writer South Mecklenburg runners stuffed their warmups into giant plastic bags at the last minute, while other runners bobbed up and down on the starting line, tring to stay warm in rainy 48-degree weather. Then, Myers Park senior Den Dowdle took off. The rain hardly seemed to bother Dowdle as he won one of North Carolina's five boys' sectional cross country titles for the second straight year. Running the 3.12-mile course at McAlpine Greenway Park in Charlotte in 15 minutes, 48.8 seconds, Dowdle moved in front at the start and eventually won comfortably over East Gaston's Phil Roberts, who ran 15:57.4. Afterwards, Dowdle said he dislikes running in chilly weather. He would much rather run in warm weather. "But I was prepared," he said, "I brought an extra pair of shoes and another shirt." Richmond County easily won the team title, 62-84 over East Mecklenburg, with the Raiders placing four of five runners in the top 10. Under new coach Charlie Bishop, Richmond County won the Southeastern 4A title this season, though its top nine runners didn't run last year. "Last year we were dead last in the conference," Bishop said. But he recruited three runners from his track team, asked his top Friday finisher -- sixth place Victor Robinson -- to come out for the team, then put his own 22 years of track expertise to work. In the girls' race, Myers Park's Lene Hestdal ran 19:41.6 and bettered Tina Beckedorf of South Mecklenburg, who ran 20:06. But South Mecklenburg's girls made their mark, capturing the team title 34-57 over Myers Park. Last week, Myers Park defeated South for the Southwestern 4A crown, but South was running without its No. 2 girl for the season, Jill Britton, out with the flu. Myers Park's Dowdle didn't take command of the boys' race until he surged ahead of Roberts at the only major hill, about a third of the way into the race. Dowdle gained the lead on the hill last week, when he won the Southwestern 4A title for the second straight year. Dowdle said he runs hills in practice, and he always thinks of getting an edge at that point in a race. "He tried to pass me once or twice," he said, "but I stayed up there with him until I got to the hill, so I could get the lead. I'm a pretty fair hill runner myself. I move my arms and legs well." Next week, at the state meet, Dowdle figures he'll get another test of his hill ability. Two Chapel Hill High runners who beat him earlier this season in an Asheville invitational probably will be his top competition. "There was a big hill at the end (of the Asheville race)," Dowdle said, "and they passed me." Competition also probably will come from Coaches' Invitational runnerup Kenny Smith of Greenville Rose. East Gaston's Roberts and Gastonia Ashbrook's Bill Will (third place) also qualified for the state meet, also at McAlpine next Saturday. Those runners earned berths as the top three individuals not on a qualifying team. All members of the Richmond County and East Mecklenburg teams also qualified. For the girls, individual qualifiers were fifth-place Shirley Truesdale of West Mecklenburg, sixth-place Amy Houser of Gastonia Ashbrook and seventh-place Alyson Nussear of West Charlotte. South Meck and Myers Park will send full squads to the state meet. ---- In the sectional at Freedom High, Asheville Reynolds and Asheville Roberson won the team spots in next week's boys' state meet. East Burke, the easy winner, and Asheville Clyde Erwin qualified from the girls' race. The boys' individual winner was North Iredell's Robert Baker, and McDowell's Charlotte McCall swept the girls' honors. Morganton Sectional Freedom HS, Morganton, NC 3 miles. BOYS: 1. Asheville A.C. Reynolds 59 2. Asheville T.C. Roberson 95 3. Watauga 127 4. Enka 132 5. Rutherfordton-Spindale Cent. 143 6. Asheville Erwin 206 7. Asheville 211 8. Lenoir Hibriten 219 9. Morganton Freedom 252 10. Wilkes Central 255 11. Hickory 259 12. Waynesville Tuscola 269 13. Kings Mountain 346 14. McDowell County 380 15. Fred T. Foard 385 16. Boiling Springs Crest 410 17. Shelby 419 18. Hickory St. Stephens 443 19. West Henderson 465 20. Edneyville 476 21. South Caldwell 553 1. Robert Baker North Iredell 15:15 2. Van Wilkins Asheville 15:31 3. Chris Sheppard Asheville Erwin 15:37 4. Langdon Bennett Watauga 15:38 5. Donnie Pipgin Ashv TC Roberson 15:39 GIRLS: 1. East Burke 36 2. Asheville Erwin 68 3. Hickory 77 4. Morganton Freedom 92 5. McDowell County 101 6. Asheville 104 1. Charlotte McCall McDowell County 18:21 2. Renee Moog Asheville Erwin 19:02 3. Stephanie Hammitt East Burke 19:10 4. Tammy Sawyer Asheville Erwin 19:28 5. Julie Hudson East Burke 19:48 6. Mary Daniels Brevard 20:19 7. Amy Benturella Swannanoa Owen 20:37 Winston-Salem Sectional Hanes Park, Winston-Salem, NC 5,000 meters. BOYS: 1. Winston-Salem RJ Reynolds 50 2. Greensboro Grimsley 89 3. North Forsyth 109 4. West Forsyth 169 5. Surry Central 185 6. Winston-Salem Parkland 187 7. Asheboro 200 8. Greensboro Page 243 9. East Forsyth 257 10. Ledford 298 11. South Rowan 302 12. Randleman 322 13. Statesville 329 14. Ragsdale 346 15. Mooresville 356 16. South Stokes 359 17. Greensboro Ben L Smith 445 18. Starmount 457 19. South Iredell 500 20. Thomasville 509 21. East Rowan 514 1. Mike Sparks Winston-Salem Reynolds 15:58 2. Mike Moses Greenboro Grimsley 16:02 3. Paul Brim Greensboro Page 16:07 4. Jimmy Nicholson Randleman 16:13 5. John Evans North Forsyth 16:20 6. Allen Ford Greensboro Grimsley 16:20 7. Thomas Christian North Forsyth 16:23 8. Marty Lemmons South Stokes 16:32 9. Jeff Shore Winston-Salem Parkland 16:43 10. Bryant Little Winston-Salem Reynolds 16:49 11. Mark Turner West Forsyth 12. Nate Berry Winston-Salem Reynolds 13. Dirk Dawson Winston-Salem Reynolds 14. Steve Hughes Winston-Salem Reynolds 15. Robert Huffman Surry Central 16. Jimmy Toole Winston-Salem Reynolds 17. Willie Hill Mooresville 18. Butch Smith East Forsyth 19. Kerry McKenzie Thomasville 20. Michael Van Hoy Asheboro 21. Todd Rhoney Winston-Salem Parkland 22. Mark Scott Ragsdale 23. Tim Fry Greensboro Grimsley 24. Phil Foster Greensboro Grimsley 25. Randy Luck Asheboro Source: The Winston-Salem Journal - Saturday, October 25, 1980 Demons Win Sectional Title By Tucker Mitchell, Staff Reporter Following the lead of hard-running senior Mike Sparks, Reynolds placed six runners in the top 16 places and buried a sectional cross country field yesterday at Hanes Park. Sparks, who set a course record with a time of 15:58 on the 5,000-meter course, will now lead Reynolds into the state meet next Saturday at Charlotte's McAlpine Park. Greensboro Grimsley flashed by a fading North Forsyth squad and will also go to the state. North's Johnny Evans, Greensboro Page's Paul Brimm and Jimmy Nicholson will go to the meet as individual runners. In the first-ever girls' sectional, East Forsyth's Leslie Ladd, as expected, destroyed the 27-runner field. She also set a course record with a time of 18:59 and will go to the state girls' meet next Saturday along with the teams from Grimsley and East Rowan. "We were nothing if not awesome today." said a cold and jubilant Norm Trzaskoma, the Demon's coach. "We ran today the way North Forsyth has been running all year. That's the way you're supposed to do it." Following Sparks for Reynolds were Bryant Little, Nate Berry, Dirk Dawson, Steve Hughes and Jimmy Toole. That group was tightly bunched between 10th and 16th place. Grimsley, which finished second, with 89 points to 50 for Reynolds, matched the Demons at the top. Mike Moses was second and Allen Ford was sixth for the Whirlies, but Grimsley's final three counters were 23rd, 24th and 35th. North's last three counters were even farther back and held the key to the Vikings' surprising collapse. John Thomas finished 26th for North, Freddie Oakes was 33rd and Jerry Oakes was 40th. Usually dependable Rodney Evans, the Vikings' regular third man, couldn't outrun a cold that had hampered him all week and finished 62nd. "We just don't run very well in cold weather," said North coach Scott Brent, whose team entered the meet as the favorite. "When it turned cold I knew we were in trouble and some of those colds we had just made it worse." "I'd have to say that our home-course advantage was a big plus for us today." said Trzakoma. "Also, our seniors did an excellent job of preparing the juniors for this meet." "We're peaking right now. There's not much doubt about it." said Sparks, who finished third in the state a year ago. "Besides, it would've been embarrassing for us to lose on our home course." Sparks' run to victory was an interesting one. He stayed just behind Randleman's Nicholson most of the race, but as the leaders passed the finish line fo the next-to-last time and headed into their final half-mile, Grimsley's Moses began to make a move. He passed first Sparks and then Nicholson but as Sparks saw the Whirlie runner go by, he moved into a higher gear, too. Sparks and Moses dueled briefly before Sparks pulled away down the stretch. "I had to make my move a little earlier than I wanted to." said Sparks, who had planned to hold off until the final 120 yards. "But it worked out okay." Ladd needed little strategy in winning the girls' meet by more than a minute. She started quickly and was never seriously threatened. GIRLS: 1. Greensboro Grimsley 23 2. East Rowan 49 1. Leslie Ladd East Forsyth 18:59 2. Page Morton Greensboro Grimsley 19:58 3. Joy Nicholson Randleman 20:43 4. Connie Fraley East Rowan 21:28 5. Joan Marsicano Greensboro Grimsley 22:10 6. Cammie Steadman Starmount 22:11 7. Sarah Cumbus Greensboro Grimsley 22:18 8. Claudia Lenz Greensboro Smith 22:30 9. Artis Campbell South Rowan 22:36 10. Heather Winchester Greensboro Grimsley 22:40 Durham Sectional Duke University, Durham, NC 5,000 meters. BOYS: 1. Chapel Hill 36 2. Oxford Webb 99 3. Durham Jordan 110 4. Durham Hillside 201 5. Raleigh Broughton 236 6. Raleigh Sanderson 243 7. Eden Morehead 252 8. Raleigh Athens Drive 293 9. Northwest Guilford 314 10. Henderson Vance 345 1. Ricky Wallace Garner 15:57.1 2. Leon Yates Chapel Hill 16:14 3. David Neish Chapel Hill 16:50 4. Mike Lovelace East Wake 16:55 5. Bernard Roberts Oxford Webb 16:58 6. Mark Shea Raleigh Broughton 16:59 7. Mike Adkins Eden Morehead 17:04 8. Ronnie Tucker Northeast Guilford 17:09 9. David Young Chapel Hill 17:13 10. Dennis McNamara Chapel Hill 17:14 GIRLS: 1. Chapel Hill 36 2. Durham Jordan 64 3. Durham Hillside 66 1. Diane McMahon Chapel Hill 20:57.3 2. Sandy Martin Cary 21:03 3. Heather Cairnes Chapel Hill 21:20 4. Lillian Mitchell Durham Jordan 21:30 5. Valerie Dean Durham Hillside 21:39 6. Jennifer Guinn Henderson Vance 21:47 7. Beth Wilson Durham Hillside 21:50 8. Meredith Wingard Durham Jordan 21:51 9. Susan Baer Chapel Hill 21:58 10. Jennifer Smith Chapel Hill 22:02 Results were obtained from a 32-year newspaper clipping. Sectional notes: The top 2 teams and top 3 individuals not on a qualifying team qualified for the NCHSAA state meet the following Saturday at Charlotte's McAlpine Greenway Park. The NCHSAA sectionals and state meet were All-Classification (4-A, 3-A, 2-A, 1-A) in 1980. Other Meets: at Charlotte Christian (3 miles) 1. Charlotte Providence Day 32 2. Charlotte Country Day 33 3. Charlotte Christian 69 1. Brad Sagge Char Christian 17:25 2. Chan Swallow Country Day 17:37 3. Mike Payne Providence Day 17:59 4. Roger Pritchett Providence Day 18:13 5. Phil Dee Country Day 18:20 6. Greg Brittain Country Day 18:27 7. Walter Hart Providence Day 18:32 8. Scott Nelson Providence Day 18:49 9. Mark McCullough Country Day 19:09 10. Scott McKendree Providence Day 19:09

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