The Chapel Hill High School men’s and women’s cross country teams both took fifth place at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 4A state championship in Kernersville on November 7.
The Tiger ladies saved their best race for the last, outperforming their number ten seed. Senior Abby Weber finished third, earning all-state honors and recording the fastest time ever by a Chapel Hill High School runner in a state meet (17:54.55).
“Heading into the state championship, our mentality was that our varsity crew wanted to prove that we are a strong, competitive team during our first year competing in 4A,” Weber said. “Since most of us are seniors, we really wanted to make each other proud in one of our last races of high school.”
Senior Amelia Maughan also finished in the top 25, placing 24th out of the 172 runners with a time of 18:48.45.
In the men’s race, senior Dylan Look—the individual champion at the 4A Mideast regionals—was the top-performing Tiger runner, finishing in 16th place with a time of 16:05.72.
“This race meant everything to us,” Look said. “Despite the injuries and other setbacks that stood in our way throughout the season, we always found a way to stay united as a team. We continued to fight until the very end, and I couldn’t be more proud of the entire team’s non-stop effort.”
Junior Yichen Sun also placed in the top 25 alongside Look, finishing in 24th place with a time of 16.11.28.
After the race, Weber had some advice for future Chapel Hill High School runners.
“I would tell future runners to run with joy and race hard! As that is our team quote, I think it’s a great lesson for prospective runners. Cross country is all about having fun and pushing your limits.”
