Knights clean up at Currahee Classic
Robbinsville – Home course advantage aside, the Black Knights’ varsity performance at the Currahee Classic turned heads across the Smoky Mountain Conference.
Head coach Kaitlyn Carringer-Adams was quick to note the tenacity of her program after the Black Knights raced to a 19-point victory, Hayden Stewart won the varsity boys race, and senior Ava Barlow took home the first-place ribbon in the varsity girls trek.
“Like I have said before, when everybody on the team is improving their time and placement each race, there isn’t much more you can ask of them, except to keep working hard,” Carringer-Adams said.
Four Knights finished in the top five of the varsity boys competition. Stewart’s finish of 19:01.65, a 45-second improvement over the last home race on Nov. 24, was quickly followed by freshman Xander Wachacha, who passed Tri-County Early College’s Will Crayton in the home stretch to clock in at 19:07.75, good for second place. William Cable and Sully Shanahan then wrapped up fourth and fifth places, with respective finishes of 20:16.72 and 22:10.02.
Running as the only varsity girl this year for the Knights, senior Ava Barlow also picked up her first victory of the season.
“Despite the weather and school being canceled, the high school runners stepped up and practiced on their own over the week, and it showed,” Carringer-Adams added. “We placed first as a team, which was our goal for this race.”
Robbinsville traveled to Cherokee after press time Wednesday for a crucial division meet, which also included Murphy and Swain.