At the conclusion of the fall sports period, both Men’s and Women’s Cross Country are striding into the state finals this coming weekend. Both teams had strong regional finishes to qualify for the states. The state finals will take place at Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville, North Carolina.
Starting off with the boys, the team finished in 5th place in the regional races, with an average time of 15:58. The Gators had strong performances, finishing 7th and 8th overall in the race, with senior Nick Morizio finishing at a time of 15:25.46, and senior Mohammed Mohammed finishing closely behind with a time of 15:29.26.
As a matter of fact, Morizio’s time marks a milestone in Green Level’s history. He now officially holds the fastest 5k in Green Level men’s cross country history. This marks the second time this season he has broken the school record, and the fourth time it has been broken this year.
For Morizio, this milestone is just another building block for him to keep working race after race.
“Breaking the record doesn’t really matter that much to me. It just makes Mo and me want to break it again,” Morizio said.
Morizio is very proud of the team qualifying for states and is prepared to race at the big meet.
“It’s been a longstanding goal of the team. We are very excited to race at the state meet,” Morizio said. “We are thankful to be there, especially after qualifying from our tough region.”
On the girls’ side, the team finished 1st in the regionals, with an average time of 18:54, taking the regional championship and building momentum heading into states. Senior Sadie Wortman finished 4th overall in the race, with a time of 18:19.62, and Junior Naomi Greengrass finished not far behind in 8th place, with a time of 18:38.62.
Another milestone was set during the regionals, as Sadie Wortman broke the all-time Green Level women’s cross country 5k record, along with Nick Morizio breaking the men’s record on the same day.
Wortman is grateful to hold the new record, but gives credit to the entire team for the hard work at regionals.
“You begin to learn that if you just compete, the results will be reflected, and I feel that showed up at Regionals for the entire team.” Wortman said.
Along with Morizio, Wortman also believes that her record will not be there much longer, as she has confidence that her teammates will break that record in the future.
Turning towards the state finals, both teams will have great competition alongside them to compete for a state title. In the boys state finals along with Green Level, Broughton, Hoggard, Panther Creek, Apex Friendship and Green Hope qualified for states from the east region. In the west region, Myers Park, William A Hough, Jordan, Ardrey Kell, Pinecrest, and Providence all qualified for states.
In the girls state finals along with Green Level, Broughton, Hoggard, Apex Friendship, Athens Drive, and Panther Creek qualified for states in the east region. In the west region, Myers Park, Pinecrest, Ardrey Kell, Providence, West Forsyth, and William A Haugh will all compete at states.
If you can, come out and support the Gators as they look to bring back two state championships for the school!
