KERNERSVILLE — The Millennium Charter boys cross country team made history last week by becoming the first team in the school’s history, in any sport, to qualify for an N.C. High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) regional championship.
The Lions took on a loaded schedule in the school’s first year as an NCHSAA member school. This challenging gauntlet of meets prepared Millennium for the NCHSAA Independent School Conference Meet on Jan. 5.
Millennium earned its spot in the Midwest 1A Regional by finishing second in the conference championship meet. All schools would normally qualify for regionals, but COVID limitations held smaller conferences to just two teams.
Only five points behind the conference champions, Millennium earned a total of 39 points with finishes at 5, 6, 7, 9, and 12.
Conference champion Corvian Community School finished with 34 total points. Corvian boasted the two fastest competitors in the 5,000-meter run, and that ended up being the difference.
Corvian’s top five finishes were at 1, 2, 8, 10 and 13.
Cesar Gonzalez led the Lions with a fifth place finish at 21:11.50. Gonzalez was followed two more Millennium runners in sixth and seventh. Calvin Devore finished at 21:25.64 and Hartley Devore at 21:33.50.
Hartley ended up beating Corvian’s Ben Slazer by .02 seconds.
Millennium freshman Ford Holmes took ninth at 22:05.98. Teammate Nicholas Johnson wasn’t far behind at 22:40.41.
Eric Sorrell and Isaac Shipley rounded out the Lions’ seven competitors in the race. Sorrell took 14th at 26:13.17, and Shipley finished 15th at 27:13.36.
Nataly McCrary was the Lions’ only competitor in the girls race. She finished sixth with a time of 28:55.21.
The Midwest 1A Regional meet will take place at Ivey Redmon on Saturday, Jan. 16.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com