The Hobbton Wildcats hosted the Carolina 1-A Cross Conference meet Tuesday afternoon. The home-standing Wildcats took the crown in both men’s and women’s events.

The Hobbton Men’s team started off the day by placing 1st overall as a team in large part because of trio of underclassman: David Torres-Molina (4th), Victor Aguirre (5th) and Xavier McLamb (10th), who all placed in the top 10. Ty Meyer and Dany Garcia-Soto rounded out the scoring positions for the Wildcats by placing 14th and 16th respectively. In cross country, the lowest score wins. The Wildcat men had a score of 49 13 points ahead of Rosewood.

Wildcat coach Jeffrey Klaves said, “By winning the meet today, the men have won all 4 of their meets this season and remain undefeated because of their depth. I am impressed by the team’s ability to rally around one another and pull each other along. Team success in cross country is driven by individuals collectively working together to achieve a goal. This team is starting to figure that out. The bar is set high for this season and I look forward to seeing how far this team can go.”

The Lady Wildcats went into the meet with one goal: reclaim the top spot in the conference. They did just that in record setting fashion. Their winning team score of 27 points is the lowest in school history. Their margin of victory (16 points) is the largest they have ever topped 2nd place.

To help this 2015 edition get into the record books, Ashley Hinterleiter led the way in a time that matched her school record of 22:01 to place 1st overall in the race. Denisse Sada, a first year freshman, also earned a top 10 finish with her time of 26:52. A trio of veterans rounded out the top 5 with Krystal Martinez placing 11th (27:14), Destiny Lowry 14th (27:41) and Stacy Potts 16th (29:47).

On learning her race time, Hinterleiter said, “I’m disappointed. I missed it by 2 seconds.” She was referring to her goal of getting in the 21 minute range for the course.

“A huge shout out to my seniors: Stacy Potts, Destiny Lowry and Thania Melendez, all three continue to improve and want to go out on a high note. It’s refreshing to have three student-athletes who lead by example and continue to push the envelope on what their bodies can do! I look for them to continue to improve and give this team an opportunity to compete for a conference championship,” said Klaves.

“We are humbled at the opportunity to host this year’s conference championship meet on 10/13 and this conference “preview” meet proved we will be ready to go.” Klaves continued.

By David Johnson

with Jeff Klaves

Ashley Hinterleiter crosses the finish line 1:29 ahead of her nearest competitor to take first place in the women’s event helping the team take first place at Hobbton Tuesday.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Ashley-Hinterleiter.jpgAshley Hinterleiter crosses the finish line 1:29 ahead of her nearest competitor to take first place in the women’s event helping the team take first place at Hobbton Tuesday.