UNION COUNTY, N.C. — A Union County cross-country team is garnering national attention as the wins stack up.

The Cuthbertson High School girls’ cross-country team has won every state championship in its division since 2018, five straight years of dominance.

Later this month, the team is set to participate in a regional cross-country meet put on by apparel company Nike, with a chance to then race for a national championship in Portland, Oregon.

What You Need To Know

• The Cuthbertson girls have won five straight state titles
• The team is nationally ranked in two separate top 10 polls
• The girls will compete in a regional meet, hosted by Nike, before the end of November

Because of the team’s success, the girls are ranked in the top 10 of two different national rankings. And, the ladies are the only national top 10 girls cross-country team from the state of North Carolina.

Coach Kirk Walsh said the team’s close bonds are why there is success on the trails.

“All seven of the girls that are going to run on Saturday in the state meet ran together at the middle school here. And, that’s pretty unique to us,” Walsh said before a practice this month.

In Union County, Walsh said it’s helping Cuthbertson, and other area high schools like Weddington and Marvin Ridge, which have directly related feeder middle schools. Also, he said many of the county’s public school runners take part in private teams and events during the offseason, giving them a chance to get to know each other and compete outside of school.

“Where they become teammates, but you know, it’s not just our situation, within Union County there’s just... it’s… running has become an important thing here, and it’s drawn a lot of the really great athletes within the system to our sport,” Walsh added.

Walsh has been coaching at Cuthbertson Middle and then High school for 10 years. He spent four years at the middle school level and is now in his sixth year at the high school.

However, the coach, which led Cuthbertson to its first ever state championships in cross-country, said the focus should all be on the kids.

“So much in how things go in life depends on who you’re around, especially when you’re a kid,” Walsh said. “They grow up together.”

Two of the seniors on this year’s team are going to run competitively at college, with scholarships to Toledo and Wake Forest.

Alyssa Preisano, sporting a Wake Forest shirt at practice, said she’s developed a close bond with her teammates.

“I’m beyond thankful for the opportunity to be able to run with them. They’re like sisters to me. Hanging out with them all the time, and just being so supportive of each other. So to be out there every day with the same goals, to accomplish what we want to do at the end of the season, is very exciting to be able to do with my teammates,” Preisano said.

The senior, who developed a love of running from her father, said she’s looking forward to continuing the sport in college.

“I’ve enjoyed it for a long time. I really like the reward out of it. I know a lot of people are like, ‘oh, running sucks. Why do you want to do that?’ And that kind of stuff. But it’s really the reward that you get at the end of the day, seeing your hard work pay off,” Preisano said before practice.

It is hard work. Walsh said the team usually practices for about 15 hours a week, with practices happening nearly year round.

“We usually hang out a lot as a team outside of practice, so it doesn’t necessarily feel mandatory to be here, and we usually get Sundays off,” Preisano added.

Another one of her senior teammates, Lillian Nasta, agreed and said she enjoys the competitive aspect of running and running with her friends.

“I’ve been running for about five years now, and I enjoy it because of the team aspect, and the family and also the competition,” Nasta said during stretches.

Nasta is going to Toledo after graduating. 

Along with Walsh, Preisano agreed with the idea the team’s success comes from their close bounds off the track.

“I think a big part of our success is how well we get along with each other. You know, we’re out there, we’re supporting each other, it doesn’t matter to us whether one teammate’s ahead of anyone else,” Preisano said. “And then another big thing that’s really helped us progress over the years is the fact that we do train together. So, we’re out there and we see, okay well, my teammate’s out here doing this on race day, and I train with them every day, so I’m capable of doing that too!”

The team competed in a national running competition last year in Alabama, and would have competed in Nike’s national cross-country running events the last two years if not for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The girls’ team is currently 4th in DyeStat’s national rankings and 9th in MileSplitUSA’s national rankings. Just days ago, the girls’ team won a fifth straight state title.