Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Cherryville, NC (WNN)- On Saturday, October 25th, the Cherryville Ironmen Men’s Cross Country Team made school history. The NCHSAA 2A West Regional Cross Country Championships were held in Mill Spring, NC, at the Tryon International Equestrian Center for both the men’s and women’s teams.
Cherryville High School history was made twice on this date. Senior Steven Wyatt and Sophomore Geovanny Martinez became the first State Championship qualifiers since 2000, and there is a possibility of the first in school history. That alone is quite an achievement. As a team, the guys finished in 7th place, with 221 points, which was one place shy of qualifying as a team for the State Championships. This is the highest finish in school history.
These young men can be truly proud of the season they have had this year. The unfortunate part of the day was that senior Dalton Rock was unable to participate due to a lingering injury. No athlete wants to end their career sidelined by an injury; however, he was able to be a part of an amazing season.
Individually, the top two finishers for the Cherryville men were Steven Wyatt, who placed 13th with a time of 18:08.3, and Geovanny Martinez, who finished 39th in 19:43.9. Both Steven and Geovanny earned all-conference recognition, as well as qualifying for the state meet. The women also had a strong showing, finishing 10th as a team with 294 points. The top two finishers in their division were Cameryn Bell, in 58th place, with a time of 25:45.5, and Lydia Skamarock, who came in 72nd, with an official time of 29:42.5. Although no girls qualified for the State Championships, Clara Skamarock earned all-conference recognition.
The history-making season will continue on Friday, October 31st, at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville, NC, at 1 pm. Coaches Antonio Griggs and Callie Cooke are extremely proud of what their runners have accomplished this season. The women’s team has now completed their season, and two of the men still have one more meet to go.
Steven Wyatt and Geovanny Martinez have already made school history, and now can make even more history. No matter how these final two runners finish on Friday, this will be a memorable season. Out of the 14 qualifiers for the West Regional Meet, only 5 are seniors. We will be saying goodbye to Steven Wyatt, Cameryn Bell, Bailey Owens, Willow Chambers, and Dalton Rock.
Both teams will be returning quite a few runners next season, which should provide another successful season. It is truly remarkable the amount of success Coach Griggs and Coach Cooke have achieved in only the second season as cross-country coaches. These coaches and runners have made the community of Cherryville and Cherryville High School proud.
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