East Bladen sending two to state championship; West Bladen girls 6th in 2-A Mideast Regional

CARY — Eleven months since any team from East Bladen appeared in the playoffs, two cross country runners have made postseason school history.

Junior Cate DeVane and senior A.J. Smith qualified to run Friday in the state 2-A cross country championship. Best anyone can remember, it’s never happened before. And in a year where COVID-19 wiped out the spring sports season and cross country and volleyball were first back into competition, the two Eagles were thrilled with their accomplishment in Saturday’s 2-A Mideast Regional at WakeMed Soccer Park’s 5,000-meter cross country course.

Across the county at West Bladen, there’s reason for celebration as well. The Lady Knights’ program benefitted by the N.C. High School Athletic Association shifting the sports calendar, gaining runners that might otherwise have never tried cross country and played girls tennis in the fall as they did last year.

Sophomores Lainey Autry and Kaiden Thurman now hope to play both come this fall after helping lead their team to a sixth-place regional finish.

“We did great,” said East Bladen head coach Wilson Bolden, whose program consists of just DeVane, Smith and junior Sydney Gardner. “A.J. is top 10, Cate was top 10, Sydney did a great job. It’s a lot of hard dedication.”

The top four individuals not on qualifying teams earned state bids. Smith’s ninth-place run in 19 minutes, 8.91 seconds was third-best of runners not on qualifying teams, about five seconds head of Wheatmore’s Finn Owen, the last runner to get in, and about 15 seconds ahead of the spot that missed.

DeVane’s 10th-place run in 24:13.65 was second-best of those not on qualifying teams, almost 90 seconds ahead of the spot to clear for getting in.

The state championship is Friday afternoon in Kernersville at the Redmon Sports Complex.

“There’s a lot more elevation,” DeVane said of the scenic course that winds through wooded areas, encircles soccer fields and has far more elevation changes than Three Rivers Conference runners saw this year. “I did a lot of miles at Browns Creek, and going through the airfield.”

Smith said he didn’t do hill work in preparation, opting instead for plenty of distance mixed with some sprint intervals.

He was running up front, about sixth, through the opening downhill sprint to a wooded area where a loop is made. He came out 15th at the first mile marker.

“I got sick at the half-mile, about 800 meters in,” he said. “I was on my hands and knees for about 20 seconds. I was dead last for a while. I almost turned and walked back.

“I heard some guys laughing at me, so I decided I’m not going to leave my pride here.”

And he didn’t. He emerged from the loop headed back up the hill picking off runners one at a time. He had just enough to fend off Durham School of the Arts’ Adrien Jacobs — third-best for the team champion — by less than a second at the finish line.

Smith’s championship trip is particularly rewarding because an injury sidelined him last fall, preventing a run at regionals. COVID-19 took away his and everybody else’s outdoor track season. He went undefeated against the Three Rivers competition.

The Lady Knights’ Autry not only plays tennis, but she and sophomore Azillyah McDonald are also already in season for basketball. Autry’s 24th-place finish was followed by freshman Violet Allen in 35th, Thurman a split-second behind in 36th, McDonald in 39th and junior Olivia Allen in 40th.

Autry said she was pleased with her mile times, admitted the challenge of the hills but still praised the course as “amazing.”

If tennis and cross country are concurrent as usual in the fall, “I’m going to try to do both,” she said. “If I can’t, I’ll probably just do cross country.”

Thurman had genuine elation in reflecting on the choice to run the season. And she had a smile and was a good sport about her morning.

“I did pretty well, other than watersliding down the hill,” she said with a laugh. “It definitely was different, but because I love soccer, seeing those fields inspired me.”

She added, “I’m really glad I did run. If I can work it out to do both, heck yeah!”

Carrboro’s girls, from the Mid-State Conference, had the most impressive showing by taking the first four places in the 43-girl race and getting their fifth score from the seventh-place finisher. And, its other two runners were 12th and 14th. Junior Hannah Preisser won in 19:10.43, about 29 seconds clear of senior teammate Madeline Ramsden.

Durham School of the Arts, also a Mid-State member, ruled the boys race of 44 competitors, taking first, fourth, 10th, 12th and 13th. Its other runners were 22nd and 24th. Senior Ryker Mattioli was a 29-second victor, running a 16:07.21.