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Tuscola Mountaineers Cross Country, Waynesville, NC (2026)

11/17/2023

We had a great end of season celebration last night at Twinbrook Resort, hosted by Greg Snyder and Lyndon Lowe. A lot of good work by this special group of student athletes was acknowledged before we closed the chapter on the 2023 season. We are sad to see Annalisse Phillips, our senior and captain, conclude her cross country running career at Tuscola, but grateful that we have her for one last spring track season. Thanks again to all of our parents, grandparents, siblings and friends for your support this season. Coach Lopresti and I are grateful for all of you, and grateful to these athletes who stepped up to take on the challenge of running cross country. I will close this post as I did the banquet last night, in the immortal words of one of my favorite coaches…..Ted Lasso:
“Taking on a challenge is a lot like riding a horse, isn’t it? If you’re comfortable while doing it, you’re probably doing it wrong.”

11/07/2023

The 2023 NCHSAA Cross Country Championship meet was held on Saturday November 4th at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville NC with male and female runners from all four classifications (1A - 4A) competing in 8 separate races throughout the day.
The 3A boys race began at 9:40 am under sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 40’s, which is perfect running conditions for a 5K race between the top teams and individual runners from across the state. Tuscola was represented by Junior captain Noah Clancy and Freshman Brooks Barbee who were both making their first appearance at the state championship event. Pisgah’s Junior Daniel Sayblack was making his second consecutive appearance, having qualified as an individual out of the West region along with Clancy and Barbee. 167 runners from 20 teams and 29 schools were on the starting line when the gun sounded on schedule. A line of runners 100+ feet wide stormed across the open 110 yard lacrosse field towards the hard packed dirt, where the course narrowed to 15 yards wide and began the undulating loop to the first mile mark. Clancy, Barbee and Sayblack were steadily making their way into the front third of the pack. The leaders set a blistering pace, passing through the first mile in just under 5 minutes. With just under 1000 meters remaining Clancy was holding on to 45th place and Barbee was in 71st. Both closed with great kicks, passing several runners over the last 150 meters with Clancy crossing in 17:05 for 39th place and Barbee finishing in 17:22 for 64th overall. Sayblack placed 95th in 17:50 which was a significant improvement over his race a year ago when he finished in 19:29, running while suffering from flu like symptoms. The winner, Gabriel Schmid of Orange High School crossed in 15:14. Locally West Hendersons Hudson Rice placed 8th, Eli Clonch 9th and Franklin’s Logan Russo 12th.
The 3A girls race began at 11am with 151 runners from 18 teams and 28 schools on the line and race time temps in the mid 50’s. As expected, West Hendersons Breanna Budzinski surged to the lead from the start along with 2 others following closely behind her. Tuscola’s Julia Wells and Luci Snyder-Lowe paced each other through the first and second miles before Wells began to pull away as they wound their way around behind the baseball outfields at the 2.5 mile mark. After a slow start, Annaleah Hill began working her way through the pack and picking off runners along the way. Emma Clancy was struggling early on and fighting to stay in the hunt while Olivia Arnold and Senior captain Annalisse Phillips were also making a move. Freshman Natalie Jimenez was also fighting for a top 5 spot on the team score. Wells cruised to a 21st place finish in 19:51 and was the 6th freshman to cross the line. Snyder-Lowe placed 36th in 20:26 and was followed by Annaleah Hill in 61st place with a time of 21:14. Emma Clancy crossed in 85th place in 22:00, which was a valiant effort on her part having been both injured and ill for most of the past 4 weeks. Phillips saved her best for last, crossing in 22:40 for 105th place. This is a two minute improvement over her time on this course from two years ago. Jimenez placed 121st, crossing in 23:22.
Morgan Miller of First Flight HS was the overall winner running the 5K course in 18:05. Locally, Freshman Morgan Cress of Franklin placed 13th overall in a time of 19:32. Western North Carolina was well represented in the overall team standings with North Buncombe placing 3rd, West Henderson 4th, Franklin 7th and Tuscola 8th out of the 104 schools that make up the 3A classification.

11/01/2023

Race Report - 3A West Regional Cross Country Meet, Freedom Park, Morganton NC. Saturday October 28, 2023

The 3A West Regional Cross Country Meet was held at Freedom Park in Morganton on a sunny and warm Saturday in late October to determine which teams and individual runners would advance to the State meet on Saturday November 4th.
The boys race was set to go off at 10am but the start was delayed by 15 minutes due to one team having mechanical issues en route earlier that morning. 175 runners representing 28 schools from throughout Western NC were on the line looking to claim one of 7 team slots and/or top 7 individual openings for the State meet. The NCHSAA uses a formula of 4 teams (minimum of 5 runners) or 25%, whichever is greater and the top 7 individuals runners not on a qualifying team to determine who will advance from each of the four regional meets to compete in Kernersville on the first Saturday in November.
Franklins Logan Russo led from start to finish crossing in 15:51, nine seconds ahead of North Buncombe runner Michael Ferguson. Tuscola’s Noah Clancy was competing for the first time in over 3 1/2 weeks due to a lower leg injury that had him training on the bike and in the pool. In spite if this, Clancy fought to a 14th place overall finish in 17 flat and making the All Region team (top 15) for his effort. In addition he was the #4 individual and is moving on the the State meet. Teammate Brooks Barbee placed 16th overall in a season best time of 17:06 and claimed the # 6 individual time and will join Clancy for the ride over to Ivey Redmon next week. Pisgah’s Daniel Sayblack, who like Clancy, has been nursing injuries also ran a great race and placed 18th overall in 17:13 and claimed the last individual spot for the state meet. Tuscola’s Austin Thomas ran a season best time of 19:02 and placed 65th overall. Thomas made huge gains this season, improving his 5K time by several minutes and will be a force to be reckoned with on the cross country course next fall.

The girls race got underway at 11am with 150+ runners representing 27 teams on the line. With only 21 full teams present (minimum of 5 runners) there would only be 5 teams along with the top 7 individuals not on a team advancing to Kernersville the following Saturday. Temperatures had crept into the low 70’s making for warmer than usual conditions under bright sunny skies. West Henderson’s Breanna Budzinski seized the early lead, as expected and was followed closely buy N. Lincoln’s Olivia Ferraro for the first 2 miles of the 3.1 mile Freedom Park course before Budzinski created separation and finished in 18:07, 27 seconds ahead of Ferraro in 18:34. Tuscola Freshman Julia Wells was the first Mountaineer to cross the line in 10th place (and an All Region designation) in 19:32 and was followed by teammate Luci Snyder Lowe who placed 16th in 20:22, 37 seconds off of her time of 19:43 from the Freedom Invitational back on September 20th. Emma Clancy claimed 27th place overall in 21:02 which was a 32 second improvement from the 9/20 meet and finished just ahead of Annaleah Hill (29th) who crossed in 21:04 for a 45 second drop in time. Freshman Natalie Jimenez made the most significant gains placing 57th in 22:02 which was a 57 second drop. Senior Annalisse Phillips also ran her best 5K time of 23:08 (a 28 second drop) and placed 70th. Olivia Arnold returned after a 3 week absence due to injury and illness and fought to a 76th place finish in 23:30. When healthy back in September Arnold ran the same course 1:55 seconds faster.
As a team, the Mountaineers claimed the 5th and final team spot for the State meet, scoring 129 points. Franklin placed 4th with 126. West Henderson 3rd with 63, North Buncombe 2nd with 53 and defending State Champion North Lincoln first overall with 41 points.
The 3A boys race will take place at 9:40 am on Saturday November 4th at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville and the 3A girls race will start at 11am.

10/27/2023

This crew is headed to the 3A West Regional Meet in Morganton tomorrow morning. They are ready to roll!

10/19/2023

2023 Milefest is in the books. They crushed it! Super proud of this group of athletes. They are ready to the 3A west regional meet on the 28th in Morganton. Go Mounties!

10/18/2023

Mountain 7 Conference Championship meet report:
October 17, 2023
Jackson Park, Hendersonville, NC

The Mountain 7 Conference Championship meet was held on a sunny fall afternoon at Jackson Park in Hendersonville on Tuesday October 17th. Runners representing West Henderson, East Henderson, North Henderson, Pisgah, Tuscola, Smoky Mountain and Franklin gathered in the upper 50 degree weather to run the 3 mile course to determine the best teams and all conference (top 12) runners for this season.
The boys race was first up at 4:30 with defending Conference champion Hudson Rice of West Henderson seizing the lead out of the gate and being closely pursued by Barrett Stork and Logan Russo of Franklin and Eli Clonch of West. Tuscola Freshmen Brooks Barbee was in 5th place after the first mile with Matheson Post of Franklin and Warren Walker of Smoky Mountain in close pursuit. Tuscola Sophomore Austin Thomas was in a pack holding on to 18th place as the runners began the second loop along the river. With a half mile to go, the leaders stormed onto the soccer complex field for the clockwise loop to the finish and Barbee still holding on to 5th place overall. Rice crossed in 15:38 followed by Stork in 15:48, Clonch in 15:53 and Russo in 15:56. Barbee held on to 5th place in 17:09, which was a -:39 second improvement over his time at the meet held here on October 4th. Thomas dropped to 26th place over the last 1.5 miles to finish in 19:53, +:21 second off of his previous time. Barbee achieved All Conference honors and was the only freshmen in the top 18 runners, with the four who finished ahead of him being 3 seniors and one junior.

The ladies were next up on the line for their 5:15 start and like the boys race, they were out fast and never slowed down. Breanna Budzinski, currently the #1 ranked 3A runner in the state seized the lead and consistently increased her margin on teammate Noelle Houlihan and Tuscola’s duo of Luci Snyder Lowe and Julia Wells. Amy Lopez and Morgan Cress of Franklin were in hot pursuit just a few yards back at the one mile mark. Annaleah Hill overcame a slow start and began moving up in the order, looking stronger with each stride as she headed down the hill (no pun intended!) and onto the trail along the river. Emma Clancy also began picking off runners in front of her and was followed 20 seconds behind by Captain Annalisse Phillips and freshman Natalie Jimenez. Georgia Crowder and Violet Plexico rounded out the Mountaineer runners on the course and were well on their way to personal best times. With a half mile to go, Budzinski had opened up a full 80 second lead on Houlihan with Snyder Lowe in pursuit coming down the hill and onto the soccer complex field. Wells was being pursued by Lopez and Cress with Cress gaining ground with just 100 meters to go. Budzinski crossed in 17:46, a new all time personal best time for her. Houlihan held on for 2nd place, crossing in 19:17 with Snyder Lowe claiming 3rd (19:26), Wells 4th (19:30), Hill 9th (20:23), Clancy 13th (20:38), Jimenez 20th (22:03), Phillips 23rd (22:08), Crowder 37th (24:23) and Plexico 49th (26:19). Snyder Lowe, Wells and Hill claimed All Conference honors for their top 12 finishes and Clancy just missed out by one second, placing 13th overall, however her time was a 1:47 second improvement from just two weeks ago on the same course. Others with improved times from the October 4 meet included Snyder Lowe (-1:46), Wells (-:58), Hill (-1:11), Jimenez (-:55), Phillips (-1:41) and Crowder (-1:25).
West Henderson defended its title with a score of 32 followed by Franklin with 46, just edging out the Mountaineers (47) for second place by 1 point. In cross country, while time is important, place is most critical when it comes to team scoring.

Next up for the Mountaineers is the 3A West Regional meet scheduled for Saturday October 28th at Freedom Park in Morganton, NC. The top 4 teams in the region advance to the state meet on November 4th. The Mountaineers are currently ranked 4th in the region with 105 points, followed closely by Franklin in 5th with 109 points.

10/15/2023

MOUNTAINEER INVITATIONAL MEET REPORT
The annual Mountaineer Invitational cross country meet took place on Wednesday October 11th at the I P Sports Complex near Canton under cloudy skies and some refreshing cool fall temperatures. Runners from Tuscola, Franklin, Pisgah, East and North Henderson, Smoky Mountain and Rosman signed up to take on the challenging 3.1 mile course consisting of 1.5 loops around the baseball fields, a mostly dry crossing of Beaverdam Creek, a 1.25 mile circuit up to the WNC Livestock Exchange and a return crossing of the creek before finishing at just beyond the start line. It was Senior Day so before the meet we honored both Annalisse Phillips and Julia Ottie with teammates, friend and family looking on.
Tuscola Junior Luci Snyder-Lowe and Freshmen Julia Wells quickly seized the lead followed by Franklin’s Amy Mendoza Lopez. Freshman Emma Clancy held 4th and Junior Annaleah Hill 6th after the first .6 of a mile. Tuscola Senior Annalisse Phillips and Freshmen Natalie Jimenez held 8th and 10th places respectively, giving the Mountaineers 6 runners in the top 10 before exiting the baseball complex and heading down and crossing Beaverdam Creek on their way up to the plateau and the livestock exchange. Three Franklin runners along with Pisgah’s Caroline Henson and East Henderson’s Ryah McDonald and Lorena Salazar rounded out the top 15. There was a little change in order from 9 to 15 over the last half of the race with Snyder-Lowe seizing the lead after mile 2 and crossing the line in a new course record time of 20:39, which was 1:39 faster than her time over the same course last season. Julia Wells placed 2nd in 20:50, Mendoza Lopez 3rd (21:40), Emma Clancy 4th in 21:46 and Annaleah Hill 5th in 21:53, which was a 1:32 improvement from 2022. Franklin took 7 - 9th place ensuring that this would be a close team score, however Natalie Jimenez firm to 10th place overall (23:31) and slammed the door on any hopes for a Franklin team win. Pisgah’s Henson placed 11th (23:52) and Senior Annalisse Phillips capped a great day with a 13th place overall finish in 24:38. Sophomore Georgia Crowder took 22nd place overall (26:32), Senior Julia Ottie placed 40th (29:40) and Sophmore Violet Plexico placed 42nd in 29:42 which was a 1:49 improvement over 2022.
The Mountaineers claimed first place with a score of 22, followed by Franklin with 36 and Pisgah with 96. Tuscola’s 1 - 5 split was 1:48 which is getting closer to the season goal of 1:30.

In the boys race, Sophomore Austin Thomas was the only Mountaineer to toe the line for the 5K race, but he more than represented by grabbing 10th place overall in 20:29. Thomas ran a strong and even paced race, dropping only one spot from the half mile mark all the way to the finish.
Next up for the Mountaineers and the rest of the Mountain 7 Conference schools is the conference meet, scheduled for Tuesday October 17 at Jackson Park in Hendersonville, NC.

09/24/2023

Race Report: Freedom Invitational at Freedom Park, Morganton, NC. Saturday September 23rd, 2023.

The annual Freedom Invitational was held on Saturday morning this year, moving from a late afternoon start time from previous years so it was a good dress rehearsal for the 3A west regional meet, which will be held on this course once again on October 28th. The cool early morning temperatures (low 60’s) was a stark contrast to last seasons 94 degrees at the start of the meet.
The boys race began at 9am with 165+ runners representing 29 schools from central and western North Carolina lining up for the start. Noah Clancy, Brooks Barbee and Austin Thomas represented the Mountaineers and all were instructed to get out fast to avoid being pinched once the course narrowed from 50 yards wide at the start to 15 yards across the soccer field. Clancy jumped into the lead pack of 5 runners and was in 3rd place after the first mile mark. Brooks Barbee was holding on to 24th and Austin Thomas was 48th. The runners then entered the woods for the second time, descended down to the Catawba River Greenway and emerged along the Freedom HS baseball field at mile 2. Clancy had moved into second place just a few yards behind West Henderson Sr Hudson Rice as they charged up the last hill with 3/4 of a mile to go. Barbee had moved up to 18th place and Thomas had dropped back to 56th. Rice crossed in a season best time of 16:03 with Clancy steps behind in 2nd in personal best time of 16:07, which is a new Tuscola High School 5K Cross Country record. Barbee held on to 18th place in a stellar time of 17:30 and Thomas crossed in 19:33 (61st overall). Clancy’s time was a 3:15 improvement over his time for this race one year ago, Thomas improved by 2:59.

The girls race followed at 9:45 with 155+ runners representing 26 schools on the line when the gun went off. Once again, the Mountaineers were instructed to get out fast and they did. Julia Wells (2nd) and Luci Snyder Lowe (6th)were in the lead pack of 8 through the first mile with Emma Clancy (16th) and Olivia Arnold (18th) moving up as they passed by. Annaleah Hill (30th) and Annalisse Phillips (36th) were in another small group and Natalie Jimenez was in 45th followed by Georgia Crowder in 80th. As the leaders passed the 2 mile mark and headed up the last hill, Wells held on to 7th and Snyder-Lowe 8th. Arnold, Clancy and Hill climbed the hill in 20th, 23rd and 27th place respectively with Jimenez and Phillips holding 49 and 57th places. Wells passed one runner in the closing half mile to cross in 6th place in a time of 19:26 followed by Snyder-Lowe in 8th in 19:43, which was a 2:43 second improvement over last years time. Clancy edged Arnold (21:35) for 26th place in 21:34 and Hill closed in 21:49 for 30th place overall. Arnold’s time was a 64 second improvement over last year and Hill dropped 2 seconds. Jimenez closed in 22:59 for 50th place and Phillips dropped 67 seconds from last year with a time of 23:26, good for 58th place. Georgia Crowder dropped 14 seconds for 89th place in 25:36. As a team, the Mountaineers placed 3rd overall with a score of 91 points behind North Lincoln with 29 and West Henderson with 49.
Next up for the Mountaineers is a meet hosted by East Henderson at The Park at Flat Rock on Tuesday September 26th.

09/14/2023

Race Report: Black Bear Invitational hosted by Pisgah on Wednesday September 13th. The Mountaineers traveled to the Pisgah Baseball Complex on Old River Road to compete in the Black Bear Invite. For all but Senior Annalisse Phillips, this was the first time ever competing on this course, which was partially destroyed by the flood from 2 years ago. It was a beautiful late summer afternoon for a cross country race with temps in the mid to upper 70’s under partly cloudy skies.
The girls race began at 4:30 and the Mountaineers were led out by Junior Luci Snyder Lowe and freshman Julia Wells. Following close behind was Emma Clancy and Annaleah Hill with Olivia Arnold holding down the 5th scoring position after the first half mile of the 5K race. Those five held their spots until the last half mile when Snyder Lowe pulled away from Wells and Hill edged in front of Clancy. Snyder-Lowe crossed in 20:51 followed by Wells in 21:09. Clancy edged Hill at the finish line in 22:28 (Hill 22:29) and Arnold closed out the perfect team score of 15 with a time of 22:45. Freshman Natalie Jimenez was the 6th Mountie to cross in 12th place overall (23:35) followed by Senior Captain Annalisse Phillips in 13th place (23:37). Julia Ottie placed 31st, Georgia Crowder 32nd and Violet Plexico 37th.
In the boys race, Junior Noah Clancy bolted from the line and never looked back, placing first overall out of 80+ runners in a great early season time of 17:19. Austin Thomas overcame a crowded start to claim 21st place overall and Benjamin Gevjan had a solid race following limited practice due to injuries and placed 43rd overall.
Next up for the Mountaineers is the Freedom Invitational hosted by Morganton Freedom High School on Saturday September 23rd.
Photos of the race will be posted as soon as possible….

09/02/2023

The 2023 Tuscola Mountaineer cross country season got off to a great start at the 3rd annual Rocket Chase meet hosted by AC Reynolds on Wednesday August 30th. Cloudy skies threatened rain throughout the four races but held off until the last runner had crossed the finish line and teams were headed for their respective busses and the ride home. Temperatures in the mid 70’s made for relatively comfortable running conditions considering that the teams have been practicing in temps nearing 90 degrees the prior week.

The Rocket Chase is a 2 mile cross country race with a unique format consisting of each teams top 7 runners starting in groups 20 seconds apart. The #7 runners start first, in unison, followed 20 seconds later by each teams #6 runner and so on until the #1 runners toe the line, a full 2 minutes behind the #7 group. Those teams with more than 7 runners can enter the rest of their athletes in the “JV” race. In the JV race, the Mountaineers were led by Senior Julia Ottie who placed 25th overall (out of 70+) in a time of 16:05. Soph Georgia Crowder placed 36th in 16:51 followed by Soph Violet Plexico in 41st (17:40) and Freshman Sophie Yarrington in 43rd (17:46).

The varsity girls race consisted of 65+ runners from 9 teams across Western NC including 4A powers TC Roberson and Watauga and the defending 1A state champion Swain County. Tuscola freshman Julia Wells began her high school running career with the overall win in a time of 12:39 and was followed closely by Junior Luci Snyder-Lowe (12:42) in 3rd place just 3 seconds back. This was a 61 second improvement for Snyder-Lowe over the same course one year ago. Junior Annaleah Hill had a strong showing, placing 8th in 13:11, a 46 second improvement from 2022. Freshman Emma Clancy powered to 13th place overall in 13:23 and was followed by Soph Olivia Arnold who placed 21st in 13:52, just 7 second off her time from 2022. Freshman Natalie Jimenez showed great promise with her 32nd overall place in 14:24 and Senior captain Annalisse Phillips crossed in 37th place in 14:51, a 64 second improvement from 2022. The girls team placed 2nd overall with 43 points behind TC Roberson (35) and ahead of Swain County (77), Watauga (85), AC Reynolds (108), Owen (164), Pisgah (231) and Erwin (237).

In the Varsity boys race, only two Mountaineers toed the starting line, Junior Noah Clancy and Soph Austin Thomas. Both had great races amongst 60+ outstanding competitors with Clancy crossing in 4th place overall in a time of 10:26 and Thomas finishing in 40th place in 12:23. Clancy’s time was a whopping 71 second improvement over 2022 and Thomas improved by 54 seconds.

Next up for the Mountaineers is the Black Bear Invitational hosted Pisgah on Wednesday September 13.

08/16/2023

These Mountaineers are ready to roll…..

05/31/2023

Runners, even though I had arranged with school administration for the meeting today at 12 noon, I was just advised that we now are not able to meet until after exams are over today. The meeting will now be at 3 o’clock in the lobby between the gym and cafeteria. Sorry for any confusion and hope to see as many of you as possible later today.

Tuscola Mountaineers Cross Country

11/17/2023

11/07/2023

11/01/2023

10/27/2023

10/19/2023

10/18/2023

10/15/2023

09/24/2023

09/14/2023

09/02/2023

08/16/2023

05/31/2023

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