Oct. 17 two XC athletes were very successful in the Northern Athletic Conference 5k at the WakeMed course. Junior Matthew Walker and freshman Lily Alston are both top runners in their conference and displayed this title effectively at the meet.

Going into the race, Walker felt confident in his abilities and believed that if he stuck to his game plan that he had a great chance at finishing in first place.

“I had the fastest time going in so, looking at all the stats, and I knew if I played it smart I could win definitely,” Walker said.

He finished with a time of 16:41.75, more than 20 seconds ahead of the second place runner from Heritage.

The WakeMed course isn’t an easy one for the runners. With steep elevation changes, WakeMed will challenge every part of the runners’ performance. Alston and the other runners know this and prepare themselves for this mentally and physically.

“I think everyone that’s run the course can say this, but the hill you have to run up twice” Alston said.

She finished with a time of 19:45.06, more than 15 seconds ahead of the top runner for Millbrook.

They both feel that their wins were rightfully deserved and are giving them the confidence that they need heading into regionals.

Walker said, “It feels good. It feels deserved because over the summer a lot of it just went into training. And now going into regionals, I feel a lot more confident.”