Gaston College cross country poised to set school, program history

Gaston College's four-year-old cross country program is primed to set school and program history this weekend when it competes in the 2024 National Junior College Athletic Association Region 10 championships on Saturday in Shelby.

Coach Kody Kubbs' Rhinos are primed to win the first fall sports championship in Gaston College history as well as the first cross country title in school history.

"We're excited because we've been training for this race and this event for quite a while," Kubbs said. "It's pretty much been our sole focus and has gotten our attention throughout all of our training blocks.
"So it's a big week for us ahead."

All seven runners in the program have set personal bests this season, led by sophomore Keirieonna Wilson's first sub-20-minute timing in school history.

A sophomore from Statesville who attended South Iredell High School, Wilson entered Gaston College in pursuit of improvement. She did so from the first of the eight regular-season meets, in which she has been Rhinos' team medalist each time.

Kubbs said he knew Wilson was talented when he recruited her, but she has repeatedly exceeded his expectations.

"She's been better than I thought she'd be and then some," Kubbs said of Wilson. "I remember her first race last year, and she said her goal for the year was to beat her high school personal best. And we did that the first race at Pfeiffer. And she's dropped times consistently throughout her two years. "We had talked this season about getting a sub 20 (minute) time. And last Saturday, it happened by 30 seconds. So that's pretty phenomenal."

Wilson's time of 19:30.5 at the USC Upstate Invitational in Spartanburg, S.C., last Saturday means she's running in peak form entering Saturday's Region 10 championships at the Cleveland Community College course in Shelby, S.C.

She's not alone.

Sophomores Abbygale King, Alayna Cook and Abigale Harris and freshmen Lexi Birtwistle, Maddie Frank and Sara Scoggins have all recorded personal bests this season.

"It's exciting to be a part of a program that's grown in each of the three years I've been here," said Kubbs, whose team has finished second in the Region 10 championships the last two seasons. "I feel like we have just added to our success. We've really started to make a reputation for ourselves. At a lot of the meets where we run, we're the only two-year school competing. I just think it's an awesome experience for our runners to compete against big-time Division I schools. There are not many sports where you can go out and compete with the biggest names in your sport, so it's great to see the growth and development of our program, and how our young ladies have been running is incredibly encouraging."

A team championship also would earn the team qualification to compete in the NJCAA national championships on Nov. 9 at Pole Green Park in Richmond, Va. Additionally, Wilson, Birtwistle, Frank and King are slated to compete in the NJCAA's Half Marathon championship event three days later on Nov. 12 at Dorey Park in Richmond, Va.

"A lot of things have to happen this week, like getting to the starting line healthy and running our race on Saturday," Kubbs said. "But we're working hard to make that happen."

The cross country team has been fundraising throughout the season to help contribute toward tournament fees and travel expenses. Please consider supporting our runners and their trip to the national championships by donating at https://org.eteamsponsor.com/ETS/supportUs/805036643.