By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

East Wilkes junior Carol Blankenship had some tough luck in her first two appearances in the 1A state cross country championships.

As a freshman in 2007, Blankenship was running with the leaders when she suddenly collapsed halfway through the race. She was unable to finish.

During the 2008 season, Blankenship suffered a stress fracture in her leg. That didn’t keep her out of the 1A finale or away from the lead pack on race day. But the injury did prevent her from having the kick needed at the end to beat the top two runners. She placed third overall.

This past fall, though, Blankenship would not be denied gold. She stayed healthy all season, won every race leading up to the state championships and then creamed the field to capture a 1A title in a state record-setting time.

It’s no surprise then that Blankenship is our choice for Most Outstanding Girls Runner on the inaugural Tribune All-Area Cross Country Team.

Blankenship’s achievements this past fall will be tough to top at the 1A level, even by her as a senior. She edited course records eight different times en route to winning 12 races. She broke the 19-minute barrier — a solid achievement even for boys runners -- twice during 5K meets, including her last run at the state championships at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons.

Her 1A championship run was a thing of beauty — and dominance. She took the lead after the opening few steps and no one came close to challenging her.

Her time of 18:59.30 was more than a minute faster than the silver medalist, Jodie Lemons from North Stokes. Her time would have won the 2A and 3A girls meets, also with ease, and would have put her 11th in the 4A girls competition.

Blankenship’s performance put her on the “National Elite” performance list as compiled by the track and field/cross country Web site www.milesplit.com.

“You won’t find a kid who works harder, day in and day out,” East Wilkes coach Anita Tharpe said after Blankenship’s 1A gold medal feat. “I don’t care if it’s rain, snow or whatever, she is going to run. You can tell she trains year round.”

When Blankenship opened up a big early lead in the 1A meet, one fan within Tharpe’s earshot made a comment about Blankenship being a rabbit — a running term for someone who takes things out quickly in order to tire the field and help an ally in the race. But Blankenship was no rabbit. She was a greyhound.

“I was thinking about the (1A meet) record the whole time,” Blankenship said of what drove her during her magical run. “I kept looking at my watch and kept going faster.”

While Blankenship has been running long distances for several years, Starmount’s Aaron Combs was relatively new to the speciality of cross country this fall. After couple of years of dazzling in middle distance track races like the 400 and 800 meters, Combs opted to give the 5K his full attention.

His hard work paid off in the form of finishing 10th in the 2A boys state meet — and earning our Most Outstanding Boys Runner honor for our Tribune All-Area team.

Combs placed second in the Mountain Valley 1A/2A Conference championships (behind the eventual state champ from Wilkes Central) and raced to fourth in the 2A Midwest Regional.

He set his sights on earning a spot on the winner’s podium at Tanglewood and he achieved that by edging several competitors by tenths of a second to place in the top 10.

His state meet time was 17:25.56. He nearly broke 17 minutes in the 2A regional, clocking a 17:02.

“Determination and dedication have brought him to where he is now,” Starmount coach Kristi Gaddis said after the season.

Both of our Most Outstanding Runners will be ones to watch next fall as seniors — and this spring when they take to the track again. Blankenship already has won two state championships in the 4x800 relay.

Typical championship level cross country meets work like this: Teams put seven runners out on the course and the top five finishers count toward the official scoring (lowest score wins). The sixth and seventh runners help break any ties if necessary.

Following that pattern, we’ve picked five boys and five girls (counting our Most Outstanding runners) to make up our Tribune All-Area first-team lineup. Two other boys and two other girls are honorable mention.

You’ve met the front-runners. Here is the rest of our team. Runners, take your marks:


All-Area Girls

Carrie Blankenship (East Wilkes): Carol’s sister joined her at the state meet after placing seventh in the 1A Midwest Regional. Carrie gave a solid performance on the season’s final day, earning 25th with a time of 22:12.96.

Candace Blankenship (East Wilkes): The Blankenship triplets of Carol, Carrie and Candace had opponents seeing triple at times out on the course. Candace didn’t make the state field but usually was the Cardinals’ third-best runner behind her sisters. She placed 24th in the regional, clocking a time of 23:22 on a muddy course in Kernersville.

All three Blankenships made the Mountain Valley 1A/2A all-conference list.

Allee Taylor (Surry Central): The senior wrote the comeback story of the year for cross country. She had been all-conference in 2007 and 2008, but injury issues kept her sidelined from training for several months.

She started running seriously again over the summer, kept getting better and peaked at the end. “She got much tougher mentally, raced smarter, trained well and grew more and more confident,” coach Rex Mitchell said.

Taylor placed 11th in the 2A Midwest Regional, barely missing out on a state berth.

Becca Aplin (Starmount): The junior likely considers herself a basketball or softball player ahead of cross country. But Aplin had a solid season overall for the Rams. She led Starmount in the 2A regional, placing 47th in a personal record-setting time of 24:18.


Honorable Mention Girls

Kelli Bonner (Starmount): It’s common to see the junior running up and down the basketball court for the Rams. Some of the conditioning for basketball began during the fall cross country season. Bonner was Starmount’s second girls finisher in the regional meet, placing 61st.

Carly Pippin (Elkin): The junior led the Buckin’ Elks at the 1A Midwest Regional. She placed 51st overall in 26:29.


All-Area Boys

Zach Millsaps (Elkin): The sophomore made a big splash in the spring, running a leg on the Buckin’ Elks silver medal 4x800 relay team. Millsaps had a strong cross country campaign as well. He earned all-conference in the Mountain Valley 1A/2A and raced to a 19th place finish in the 1A Midwest Regional.

Allen Harris (East Wilkes): The Cardinals had some tough shoes to fill this year following the graduation of 2008 state champion Eric Blackburn. Harris led the way for East Wilkes this fall, earning top 10 finishes in several meets, including a third-place showing in an October race hosted by Mount Airy.

Harris, an all-conference performer, led the Cardinals in the 1A regional, placing 26th in 18:59.

Jacob Fulk (Surry Central): The Golden Eagle boys were the only full team from The Tribune area to make the state championships together. Fulk led the way on the 5K Tanglewood course, placing 16th in 17:34.

Fulk’s season also included an eighth-place showing in the 2A Midwest Regional and a bronze medal in the Northwest 1A/2A Conference championships, putting him on the first-team all-conference list.

Carlos Vega (Surry Central): After injuries derailed his 2008 season — and persisted into 2009 — Vega considered not coming out for cross country. But he decided to be a team player and competed this past fall although he was what coach Mitchell called “significantly less than 100 percent.”

Vega still ran well at season’s end, finishing second for Surry Central in the state meet (54th overall) and second for the Eagles in the 2A regional (21st overall).


Honorable Mention Boys

Raul Lachino (Surry Central): The Golden Eagles got solid runs from the sophomore when it counted most. Lachino placed eighth in the conference meet (second best on the team). He was Central’s third runner to cross at both regions (27th overall) and the state meet (59th overall).

Gerardo Lachino (Surry Central): The sophomore saved his best for last, running a personal best time (18:59.07) at Tanglewood in the state meet. His 71st place overall showing helped the Golden Eagles place seventh in the team standings — a stellar feat considering the field included the 16 best teams in the state.

With five underclassmen slated to be back from Surry Central’s boys team, the Eagles will be ones to watch in 2010.