Not even nervousness could slow down Kalil Dennison and Zoe Dorsey in their final track meet of the 2021 season.
A pair of runners just starting their prep careers at Fayetteville Academy, Dennison and Dorsey brought back some first-place hardware from the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association Division III state title meet on May 15.
Dennison, a sophomore, took top honors in the 100-meter run and Dorsey, a seventh-grader, set state records on her way to winning the 200- and 400-meter races.
“I just remembered all of the hard times and the sucky practices. I just wanted to make it all worth it,” Dorsey said.
“Once I had run everyone down, I just pushed through. I was really excited and it was a big accomplishment for me.”
Dennison, who was named Fayetteville Academy’s Male Athlete of the Year and earned 910Preps Athlete of the Week honors for his performance at the state championship meet, has only been training for two years as a runner.
“I’ve just been working hard these past two years for track and everything is just coming together,” said Dennison, who picked up 609 votes in the latest 910Preps poll.
“I anticipated that this would come in time, so I’ve just been working. I won a state championship, so I know I’m doing something right.”
As he stepped up for the 100-meter race, Dennison felt the nerves set in but quickly shifted his focus to the track and the runners around him.
“I had the mindset that I didn’t care who was on the track with me, I was gonna win. … All the hard work I put in was finally coming through,” he said.
Despite his success, Dennison was even more impressed with what Dorsey was able to accomplish in the state title meet at Gaston Christian School.
“No seventh-grade girl is doing what she’s doing right now,” he said. “For her to have an achievement as great as mine, it’s unbelievable.”
Dorsey doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon as she continues to train and run with the Fayetteville Flyers travel organization.
“It makes me want to go even faster and make sure I stay healthy,” she said. “I just want to continue to be successful and, hopefully, some day run in college and even higher.”
Fayetteville Christian earns its highest finish ever
While Fayetteville Academy was savoring its success in Gastonia, Fayetteville Christian’s track and field program was making history of its own at Forsyth Country Day School in the Division II state championship meet.
The boys finished third for the program’s highest finish in school history to highlight a crowd of podium finishes for the Warriors.
“It was very satisfying to see our boys finish third and girls eighth,” head coach Tom Hess, who started the program and is set to retire after 15 seasons, said.
“I coach primarily the distance runners and they all got personal bests and set three school records at the state meet and set personal bests in each race they entered.”
Hayley Robinson took second and set a school record in the 800-meter race, as did the 4×200 relay team. Demaree Clark finished second in the high jump and Tomas Stevens had a runner-up finish in the triple jump.
Thomas Macagg was fourth in the 3200-meter run and Hayley Matthew rounded out the record finishes with a fifth-place time in the 400.
Omauri Robinson secured two medals with a runner-up finish in the 100-meter sprint and a third-place time in the 200-meter race. Dezzy Clark had a runner-up finish in the long jump and Joshua Ashurst took second in the 100-meter run.
The Warriors also had a third-place finish in the 4×100 relay.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at [email protected].
