Polk County senior Caleb Potter captured the Western Highlands Conference cross country championship on Wednesday, pacing Wolverine efforts in the meet in Swannanoa.

Polk County’s Caleb Potter completes his winning run at Wednesday’s Western Highlands Conference cross country meet (photo courtesy Jenny Wolfe).

Potter finished the meet in a time of 17:25, taking top honors by more than 38 seconds over runner-up Jeremiah Flores of Madison, to win the WHC meet for the second straight year.

Polk County freshman Olivia Overholt placed second in the girls conference race, won by Owen sophomore Hannah Larios. Overholt notched a time of 21:20.60.

The Wolverine girls narrowly missed a conference title, finishing just four points behind Owen. Polk County placed two other runners on the all-conference team in addition to Overholt, with Caelan Gaul finishing fifth in 22:32.90 and Taytem Johnson taking eighth in 23:10.80.

Also placing for the Wolverines were Madison Geddings, 12th in 23:46.10, and Amelia Nespeca, 14th in 24:25.00.

Other Polk County runners competing included:
* Lauren Dotson, 15th, 24:26.90
* Ashlyn Ramsey, 20th, 26:02.50
* Lacey Gosnell, 25th, 26:41.70
* Nathalie Ramirez, 33rd, 30:25.20

Eight of the nine runners for Polk County were either freshmen or sophomores, with Nespeca a junior.

The Polk County boys placed third, behind Owen and Madison, with Mark Teague placing 10th to join Potter on the all-conference team.

Jack Derkach came home 11th in a time of 19:08.40, with Bryce Thompson in 17th at 20:08.80 and Chris Rickman in 21st at 20:29.60.

Kiyon Staley finished 24th in 22:21.90 and Gus Maass was 26th in 22:20.10 for the Polk boys.

Owen placed five runners in the top nine spots to claim the team title.

The 1A West Regional will also be held on the Asheville Christian Academy course, that meet set for Oct. 27.

                    Western Highlands Conference - 10/17/2018                    
                        2018 Cross Country Championships                         
                           Asheville Christian Academy                           
                              Last Completed Event                               
 
Event 2  Women 5k Run CC
=======================================================================          
    Name                    Year School                  Finals  Points          
=======================================================================          
  1 Hannah Larios             10 Charles D. Owen       21:01.40    1             
  2 Olivia Overholt            9 Polk County           21:20.60    2             
  3 Laila Burk                10 Charles D. Owen       21:37.70    3             
  4 Maci Thomas                9 Mountain Heritage     22:27.30    4             
  5 Caelan Gaul               10 Polk County           22:32.90    5             
  6 Callie Aerni               9 Madison               22:45.70                  
  7 Bailey Cantrell           11 Madison               23:02.60                  
  8 Taytem Johnson            10 Polk County           23:10.80    6             
  9 Chloe Stiles              12 Charles D. Owen       23:24.50    7             
 10 Josie Naumowich            9 Avery County          23:25.60    8             
 11 Sophie Murphy             10 Charles D. Owen       23:38.90    9             
 12 Madison Geddings          10 Polk County           23:46.10   10             
 13 Ellery Parmenter          10 Charles D. Owen       24:01.30   11             
 14 Amelia Nespeca            11 Polk County           24:25.00   12             
 15 Lauren Dotson              9 Polk County           24:26.90   13             
 16 Emma Whitney              10 Charles D. Owen       24:42.80   14             
 17 Ava Yurchak               10 Charles D. Owen       25:07.10   15             
 18 Brook Cheuvront            9 Avery County          25:34.10   16             
 19 Alyssa Jamerson           12 Mountain Heritage     25:34.10   17             
 20 Ashlyn Ramsey              9 Polk County           26:02.50   18             
 21 Shiloh Branch              9 Mitchell              26:30.10   19             
 22 Tiffany Brocco            11 Avery County          26:30.40   20             
 23 Reagan Houchard           12 Mountain Heritage     26:31.20   21             
 24 Lillian Perez             10 Avery County          26:38.50   22             
 25 Lacey Gosnell              9 Polk County           26:41.70                  
 26 Regan McKinney            12 Avery County          26:47.70   23             
 27 Josie Davis               12 Charles D. Owen       27:47.90                  
 28 Penelope Brocco           10 Avery County          28:40.40   24             
 29 Brooke Wright             12 Avery County          28:43.50   25             
 30 Kaylan Stansberry          9 Mitchell              28:55.90   26             
 31 Lizzie Wilson             10 Mitchell              29:44.80   27             
 32 Caroline Atkins           12 Mitchell              29:45.60   28             
 33 Nathalie Ramirez           9 Polk County           30:35.20                  
 34 Taylor Page                9 Avery County          30:53.00                  
 35 Skyla Rule                 9 Mountain Heritage     30:53.50   29             
 36 Kirsten Vanbrederode      11 Mitchell              34:22.40   30             
 37 Mikayla Silver             9 Avery County          34:31.70                  
 38 Puthita Photak            12 Mountain Heritage     37:03.60   31             
 39 Evelyn Kline              11 Mitchell              37:28.90   32             
 40 Kelly Allison              9 Mountain Heritage     37:30.00   33             
                                                                                 
                                   Team Scores                                   
=================================================================================
Rank Team                      Total    1    2    3    4    5   *6   *7   *8   *9
=================================================================================
   1 Charles D. Owen              31    1    3    7    9   11   14   15          
      Total Time:  1:53:43.80                                                    
         Average:    22:44.76                                                    
   2 Polk County                  35    2    5    6   10   12   13   18          
      Total Time:  1:55:15.40                                                    
         Average:    23:03.08                                                    
   3 Avery County                 89    8   16   20   22   23   24   25          
      Total Time:  2:08:56.30                                                    
         Average:    25:47.26                                                    
   4 Mountain Heritage           102    4   17   21   29   31   33               
      Total Time:  2:22:29.70                                                    
         Average:    28:29.94                                                    
   5 Mitchell                    130   19   26   27   28   30   32               
      Total Time:  2:29:18.80                                                    
         Average:    29:51.76                                                    
                    Western Highlands Conference - 10/17/2018                    
                        2018 Cross Country Championships                         
                           Asheville Christian Academy                           
                  
 
Event 1  Men 5k Run CC
=======================================================================          
    Name                    Year School                  Finals  Points          
=======================================================================          
  1 Caleb Potter              12 Polk County           17:25.00    1             
  2 Jeremiah Flores           12 Madison               18:03.90    2             
  3 Noah Lehman               10 Charles D. Owen       18:17.30    3             
  4 Elisha Barnette           11 Madison               18:22.70    4             
  5 Matthew Allen             12 Charles D. Owen       18:24.50    5             
  6 Hunter Snyder             12 Madison               18:39.30    6             
  7 Kyle Phillips             11 Charles D. Owen       18:49.70    7             
  8 Samuel Hey                10 Charles D. Owen       18:58.90    8             
  9 Gabriel Crockett          10 Charles D. Owen       19:02.20    9             
 10 Mark Teague                9 Polk County           19:05.50   10             
 11 Jack Derkach              12 Polk County           19:08.40   11             
 12 Parker Gautier            10 Avery County          19:10.00   12             
 13 Aidan Nalley              11 Charles D. Owen       19:20.00   13             
 14 Ethan Shell                9 Avery County          19:24.60   14             
 15 Truett Sawyer             12 Madison               20:06.60   15             
 16 Cole Doster               12 Charles D. Owen       20:07.20   16             
 17 Bryce Thompson             9 Polk County           20:08.80   17             
 18 Trevor Nail               10 Charles D. Owen       20:18.20                  
 19 Jared Pressley            12 Charles D. Owen       20:23.90                  
 20 Wise Freeborn             10 Mountain Heritage     20:24.30   18             
 21 Chris Rickman             10 Polk County           20:29.60   19             
 22 Shane Millner             12 Madison               20:43.40   20             
 23 Damon Street              12 Mountain Heritage     21:21.80   21             
 24 Kiyon Staley              11 Polk County           22:12.90   22             
 25 Jordan Buchan              9 Mountain Heritage     22:17.20   23             
 26 Gus Maass                  9 Polk County           22:20.10   24             
 27 Elijah Cassida             9 Mountain Heritage     22:29.80   25             
 28 Chad Davie                10 Mountain Heritage     22:34.60   26             
 29 Noah Lewkowicz             9 Charles D. Owen       22:40.10                  
 30 Devin Street              12 Mountain Heritage     22:42.00   27             
 31 Jeremiah Clark             9 Avery County          22:50.20   28             
 32 Alphonso Apolinar            Mitchell              22:55.00                  
 33 Braxton Buchanan          10 Avery County          23:07.40   29             
 34 Ian Cassida               12 Mountain Heritage     23:14.60   30             
 35 Zack Greer                10 Avery County          23:30.20   31             
 36 Samuel Murphy             10 Mountain Heritage     24:24.20                  
 37 Mason Miller              10 Mountain Heritage     24:45.90                  
 38 Lukus Clements            12 Charles D. Owen       24:56.90                  
 39 Tyler White               11 Charles D. Owen       25:04.00                  
 40 Christian Williams        11 Charles D. Owen       26:00.20                  
 41 Ryan Argent               11 Mountain Heritage     26:59.10                  
 42 Erik Fernandez            11 Mountain Heritage     28:26.60                  
 43 Michael Argent            12 Mountain Heritage     33:53.60                  
 44 Aden Laws                 11 Mountain Heritage     33:56.40                  
 45 Johnthan O'Sheilds        12 Mitchell              42:33.00                  
                                                                                 
                                   Team Scores                                   
=================================================================================
Rank Team                      Total    1    2    3    4    5   *6   *7   *8   *9
=================================================================================
   1 Charles D. Owen              32    3    5    7    8    9   13   16          
      Total Time:  1:33:32.60                                                    
         Average:    18:42.52                                                    
   2 Madison                      47    2    4    6   15   20                    
      Total Time:  1:35:55.90                                                    
         Average:    19:11.18                                                    
   3 Polk County                  58    1   10   11   17   19   22   24          
      Total Time:  1:36:17.30                                                    
         Average:    19:15.46                                                    
   4 Mountain Heritage           113   18   21   23   25   26   27   30          
      Total Time:  1:49:07.70                                                    
         Average:    21:49.54                                                    
   5 Avery County                114   12   14   28   29   31                    
      Total Time:  1:48:02.40                                                    
         Average:    21:36.48