The North Duplin boys and girls cross country teams competed in the NC High School Athletic Association Class 1A Mideast Regional in Cary Saturday. Junior Luis Avilez-Gonzalez, far right, qualified as an individual for the NCHSAA state finals next week. (Contributed photo)
CARY — North Duplin’s Luis Avilez-Gonzalez is headed to next week’s NC High School Athletic Association Class 1A cross country state championship meet.
The junior punched his ticket with a seventh-place time of 18 minutes, 51.37 seconds in the Mideast 1A regional contested at the WakeMed Soccer Complex Saturday.
Avilez-Gonzalez emerged as the Carolina 1A champion last Thursday.
Junior Sam Carr wound up 72nd in 22:17.85, while senior Luke Holland seized 77th place in 22:43.91. Freshman teammates Gavin Birkin (25:17.24) and Lucas Gregory (25:18.09) claimed spots Nos. 104 and 105, respectively.
The Rebels ended up 14th among 17 competing teams with 337 points.
Eno River Academy secured the regional team title. East Wake, Woods Charter and Triangle Math & Science Academy will take their teams to next week’s NCHSAA state finals.
Freshman Gabriella Zamudio emerged as the Rebels’ top female runner with a 45th-place performance of 27:11.86. Freshman Roselin Orozco (28:17.52) wound up 54th, while junior Baker Sumner was 61st overall in 29:35.52.
Jasmine Manzanares (30:25.71) and Brittany Huerta (31:51.94) each finished among the top 70 runners. Sasha Arguijo finished the 3.1-mile course in 37:32.57, good enough for 86th.
Voyager Academy collected the team title. They’ll be joined in the state finals by Woods Charter, Eno River and Falls Lake Academy.
