At the 4A East Regional Meet, Athens Drive High School’s cross-country team qualified for the NCHSSA 4A State Meet. Noah Valyo is a senior at Athens Drive High School. He is one of the team’s captains and has been running since ninth grade. Noah is committed to the North Carolina State University cross-country team.
“I think something I’ve done well is that I’ve started having fun with the sport,” said Valyo.
Valyo’s main objective is to enjoy being out on courses and competing with people. That’s something he’s done well this season.
“Noah Valyo is our top boy, and could win the state championship,” said Lori Lair, Cross Country Coach.
Noah Valyo did win the state championship. This is the first time Athens Drive has sent both men’s and women’s teams to the state championship simultaneously.
“We’ve got a nice spread from ninth to twelfth grade, and we’ve got a lot of talent in all of those grades and also just all around solid for all of us,” said Connor O’Toole, senior.
“Our main goal is to have both our boys team and our girls team qualify for the state meet, and we run regionals tomorrow, actually, and that’s what we’ll find out, so if we finish in the top six in the region, we’ll get to go to the state meet as a team,” said Lair.
The men’s team placed fifth, and the women’s team placed sixth. At this meet, the top six teams advance to the state championship. Running as a pack increases their chances of getting to state as a team; it’s their strategy.
“I was excited because it was the first time our girl’s team had ever gone to the state meet as a team; it’s only the second time the boy’s team has ever gone as a team, and for them both to go at the same time,” said Lair.
Despite runners being sick and the heat at the 4A East Regional Meet, they still qualified for the NCHSSA 4A State Meet, showing off their dedication to the sport. The State meet topped off the 2023 Athens Drive High School’s Cross Country team’s season.
“He looks really, really strong. He can run a ton faster, but he didn’t need to run a ton faster because he was so far ahead, and we like that he didn’t have to expend extra energy on that particular meet so he could save up for this coming week (the State Meet),” said Lair.
Noah Valyo was the NCHSAA 4A State Meet champion; he placed first at 15:05 and set the Ivey Redmon course record.
