Staff Reports

DOBSON — Starmount’s boys cross country team won the River Run Invitational at Fisher River Park on Saturday.

The Rams put all five of their scoring runners in the top 21, edging Mount Airy for team honors by four points.

Aaron Combs led the way by placing third in the 5K race. He finished in 17:56. David Morrison placed 12th (20:00), followed by Travis Norman 17th (20:33), Dalton Macemore 18th (20:34) and Austin Pope 21st (21:02).

Blaine Casstevens (30th, 22:39) and Garrett Johnson (39th, 23:29) also gave the Rams solid performances, helping block runners from other schools from earning higher finishes. Cameron Bare placed 54th.

The lowest score wins in cross country, and the way to get the lowest score is have as many runners finish near the front as possible.

Starmount was able to do that even though Mount Airy’s Matus Kriska won the boys race in a time of 17:19. The Granite Bears also had runners place 14th, 15th and 19th, but the Rams were able to get their fifth runner in four spots ahead of Mount Airy’s.

In terms of time, the Rams’ top five collectively finished 11 seconds ahead of Mount Airy.

Seven schools fielded complete teams for the boys race. Starmount ended up with 54 points, followed by Mount Airy 58, North Davidson 83, West Montgomery 94, Wilkes Central 116, Forsyth Home Educators 132 and North Surry 139.

Zach Millsaps placed ninth as Elkin’s lone representative. He clocked a time of 19:26.

Starmount finished third in the girls race out of four complete teams.

Carla Cave, who also plays No. 1 singles and doubles for the Rams tennis team, was Starmount’s top girls runner. She placed 17th in 26:48. Brittany Casstevens and Karie Bryant weren’t far behind Cave. Casstevens finished 18th in 26:55, while Bryant earned 20th in 27:59.

The Lady Rams’ scoring runners stayed pretty bunched together in the standings. Rebecca Aplin was 22nd (28:11), while Sarah Hardy was 27th (29:08).

“I have seven solid male runners and five solid female runners,” Starmount coach Kristi Gaddis said. “Both teams are dedicated and will improve as the season progresses. They are anxious to see what level of competition the new conference will bring.”

Jodie Lemons of North Stokes won the girls race by 36 seconds over Wilkes Central’s Laney Browder. Lemons finished in 20:25.