Orange freshman Sascha Godfrey sure picked the right time to run her best race of the season.
On Saturday, Godfrey finished 9th in the 3A Mideast Regionals at Northwood High School. Godfrey completed the 5,000 meter course in 20:58.58, the highest among runners who didn’t hail from Chapel Hill.
Oddly, Godfrey’s regional race wasn’t her personal best for the season. Last week, Godfrey finished 18th at the Big 8 Conference Championships at Chapel Hill High with a time of 20:51.50.
With a 5th place finish, the Cedar Ridge Girls Team qualified for the state championships next weekend at Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville.
Cedar Ridge sophomore Ella Nissler, who finished 13th at the Big 8 Championships, finished 21st with a time of 21:43.85, the highest among the Red Wolves. Right behind her was teammate Anne Morrell, a freshman who completed the course in 21:47.75.
Orange sophomore Ava Heffernan came in 24th. Cedar Ridge sophomore Allison Musty finished 25th with a time of 22:00.
Orange finished 9th as a team. The top five girls team advanced to the state championships.
The girls race was a complete Chapel Hill High domination. The Tigers, led by individual Regional Champion Katherine Dokholyan, won the regional championship by having runners finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th. East Chapel Hill’s Annika Narbut finished 7th. Eastern Alamance’s Courtney Keeler was the only non-Big8 runner to finish in the top ten, coming in tenth.
In the boys meet, Orange finished fourth to advance to Kernersville next weekend. The Panthers were led by junior Kyle Van Tubbergh, who came in 15th with a time of 17:53.50. Orange junior Sam Rasinske finished 32nd, while senior Mitchell Askew came in 35th.
Alistar Stewart was the top finisher for the Red Wolves in the boys’ race, coming in 52nd. Junior Zach Crane came in 55th.