East Rowan’s boys cross country team had no trouble ruling the North Piedmont Conference scene and now they’re projecting their skills on the South Piedmont Conference.
East had five finishes in the top 12 to best runner up Northwest Cabarrus at Central Cabarrus High School Tuesday for its fifth consecutive conference crown.
County meet champion Conor Honeycutt was the top Mustang, finishing fourth in 17:12. Hickory Ridge sophomore Alex Cornwell was the winner finishing in 16:36.
Carson’s Zachary Marchinko (16:56) came in third, three seconds behind second-place finisher Gil Gilreath of Northwest Cabarrus.
East got top-10 finishes from Chance Brown (ninth, 18:10) and Justin Allen (10th, 18:12). Jason Troutman was 12th in 18:20.
Hickory Ridge, Carson and Cox Mill rounded out the top five. Concord, West Rowan, Central Cabarrus and South Rowan finished 6-9.
The girls race saw West Rowan’s Rebecca Parker come in second in 20:34. Emma Hand of NWC helped the Trojans win the girls race by finishing first in 20:17.
East’s girls came in second with Faith Blume (seventh, 22:07) and Tori Gaul (eighth, 22:15) leading the way.
West’s Josie Heglar (22:46) came in 12th and East’s Hayley Lyerly (23:26) was 17th. Cox Mill came in third and Hickory Ridge, West, Concord and Carson rounded out the scores. East coaches Rick Roseman and Jon Heidrick were SPC coaches of the year.
Salisbury’s boys won the Central Carolina Conference meet at Dan Nicholas with Philip Simons placing first overall.
David Uto, Matt Washko and Max Patel made the all-conference team. The Hornets also got strong runs from Sam McNeely, Nick Greene and Jeryon Davis. Salisbury’s girls placed third thanks to a second-place finish from Susannah Dixon.