The Chapel Hill’s men’s cross-country team won the 3A state championship in Kernersville on November 9, the Tigers’ second title in four years.
Chapel Hill juniors Ben Hawley and Emil Arrangala led the team, finishing sixth and tenth respectively and earning all-state honors. Hawley finished the race with a time of 16:11.30, while Arrangala clocked in at 16:16.16.
Five Chapel Hill runners finished among the top 25 runners, a goal senior Owen Rogers, who finished 19th (16:31.36), said the team had set for itself.
Junior Max Reisinger finished in 13th place (16:23.06), and freshman Yichen Sun crossed the line in 25th place (16:34.59).
The Tigers finished with an average time of 16:23:30, propelling Chapel Hill to the state title and edging out rivals Weddington and Cutherbertson high schools, who finished second and third respectively.
Even after they had crossed the finish line, though, the runners weren’t certain they had won the title, as their race started at nine o’clock and the awards ceremony was held two hours later.
“When it was announced that Weddington had gotten second, we all exploded, and it was a super amazing moment for the team,” Hawley said.
“Everyone was a bit nervous about whether we would [win],” Cook added.
The Tigers were last crowned state champions in 2016.
“We have been working our butts off to get this win, and it feels great after three years of waiting,” Hawley added.
The state title didn’t come easily, and fielding a healthy team wasn’t even a given before the state meet.
“A few days before the state meet, we had three out of our seven runners sick, and we were worried that one of them would have to sit out at states,” Rogers said. “Thankfully, everyone got better in time.”
