October 30th marked the last race of the 2021 cross country season as Davie County Cross Country (DCXC) ran in the Midwest 4-A Regional race held at Ivey Redmon Park. Twenty-nine schools from the region competed in this race, with Davie boys placing 8th, coming just one place short of qualifying for the state championships, and girls placing 17th. While Davie did not have any state qualifiers this season, Coach Rob Raisbeck remains optimistic.
“We had a good season and accomplished a lot of good things on the boys’ side. We won two big invitationals at Providence and Pfeiffer.”
Along with their wins at invitationals, Davie placed third at the CPC Conference Championships, “their best finish in years,” according to Raisbeck. DCXC had reason for celebration as their victory against both West Forsyth and Reynolds was a first for them in many years. Some of the top performers on the boy’s team were seniors Andrew Brown and Reece Yount. Both finished their last season of high school cross country strong, with Brown placing first for Davie in every race and Yount improving his 5k time by nearly two and a half minutes. For the girl’s team, Riley Almond (Junior) was the top placer for Davie in each race as well. “This season allowed the girls to connect more than we ever have…I’m sad that the season is over, but I’m really looking forward to winter track.” Almond says as she reflects on the season.
The conclusion of this season marks the end of an era for several seniors. The boy’s team is losing four of their top seven runners, including Andrew Brown, Caleb Young, Reece Yount, and Cole Swade. The girl’s team will be losing Katy Schupe.
Covid impacted the team in more ways than one this year. “I had covid three times,” says Caleb Young, “I missed weeks of practice and workouts… I didn’t race like I should’ve.” Despite Covid’s impact on both runners’ health and ability to participate, Davie XC displayed their fighting War Eagle spirit with each workout and race of the season! Though cross country has come to an end, a majority of the runners are now looking forward to a successful winter track season where they will focus on shorter events and faster times.
Looking to future seasons, the team will be quite different in the coming years. “Next year our boys will be a much different team as we graduate four of our top seven. We will need for the younger guys to step up and fill the void. The girls should be a deeper team and much improved as we only graduate one senior on the whole team” says Raisbeck. With the implementation of a cross country team at North Davie Middle School, both the boys’ and girls’ teams should grow in strength and numbers in the coming seasons. Coach Raisbeck and Officer Jones, an officer at DCHS and assistant cross country coach, continue to promote and grow the program and look forward to DCXC’s promising future.
