From staff reports

South Rowan’s Eli Julian ran 15:36 in the championship race in Saturday morning’s Adidas Cross Country Challenge at Wake Med Soccer Field in Raleigh.

Julian medaled in the high-powered event and broke 16 minutes for the first time.

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In the Hares & Hounds Meet held at McAlpine in Charlotte, Carson’s Jorge Clemente-Garcia clocked 17:21 and Gabe Honeycutt ran 18:03.

HS basketball

Coaches from N.C. State, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Virginia have been in Salisbury in recent days to check in on rising prospect Juke Harris. The junior has 25 offers at last count.

NFL

Javon Hargrave (North Rowan) was credited with two tackles in Philadelphia’s opening game.

HS coaching

Salisbury swim coach Sallie Hundley Pittman has resigned and  is now teaching at R.J. Reynolds.

College baseball

Vance Honeycutt (Salisbury) hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs in UNC’s scrimmage with  Walters State on Friday.

College soccer

Catawba’s undefeated women’s team routed Bluefield State 13-0 on Friday.

Lillie Rusher (Salisbury) scored a goal for the Indians, her third of the season.

Hannah Dunn has scored 12 goals in eight games and earned national player of the week accolades.

• Catawba’s men’s team Beat Newberry 2-1 on Friday for its fourth straight victory.

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Madison Henry (South Rowan) has five goals and three assists and is the  leading scorer for UNC Wilmington.

College volleyball

Tori Hester (West Rowan) had 18 kills and three aces in Troy’s 3-2 loss to Jacksonville State on Saturday.

Hester had 23 kills, eight digs and three blocks in Friday’s 3-2 win against Gardner-Webb.

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Columbia International’s Kira Rymer (South Rowan) had 12 kills and four blocks in a sweep of Johnson University on Saturday.

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Salem’s Anna Rymer (South Rowan) had 12 kills in a 3-1 loss to Huntingdon on Saturday.

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Kelcie Love (West  Rowan) had seven kills and Kary Hales (Carson) had 15 digs as Catawba swept Coker on Saturday.

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Braelyn Faust (West Rowan) had eight kills and three aces in Lenoir-Rhyne’s 3-1 win against Newberry on Saturday.

College football

Chris Reynolds (Davie) has produced some huge games as the quarterback for the Charlotte 49ers, but Saturday’s may have been his best.

Returning from an injury, Reynolds led a dramatic comeback to win 42-41 at Georgia State. He engineered a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter (or OT) for the fifth time in his career and capped the drive with a game-winning touchdown pass in the final minute.

Reynolds threw five TD passes to tie the school record. He threw for 401 yards, the second time he’s reached 400 in a game.

“There were times when (the game) could have gone either way. When we needed to make a play, we found a way to make a play. Number three’s different,” Charlotte head coach Will Healy said, referring to Reynolds. “Just felt a little different knowing he was going to play. We looked like a different football team.”

College cross country

 Pfeiffer competed in the CNU Regional Preview in Newport News, Va.

The races were held at the Lee Hall Mansion, the site of the Division III South Regional Championships that will be held Nov. 12.

Pfeiffer’s Madison Lowery (South Rowan) continued her early season success, as she finished in ninth place in the field of 167 runners.  Her time of 22:55.7 over the 6K course was the fastest for  USA South runners.

 Freshman Sawyer Helms led Pfeiffer’s men with an 8K time of  29:13.

Wachovia Cup

Salisbury finished ninth in 2A for the 2020-21 school year.

The Wachovia Cup is a measure of overall athletic excellence.

NCHSAA

The National Federation of State High School Associations released the first National Participation Survey in three years. The survey was suspended for two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The data showed a  4 percent drop in participation nationally from 2018-19 survey to 2021-22. North Carolina experienced a 9.1 percent decline in participation, with a significant decline of 12.5 percent in girls sports.

The NCHSAA data for 2021-22 show a 3700-student rebound in football, a 17.3 percent increase from 2020-21, with 11 programs returning to the field.

Golf

The Presidents Cup will make its first trip to the Southeastern U.S.  when Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte plays host to the international team competition on Sept. 20-25.