Evan Gordon Clocks in as Fastest Freshman

Evan Gordon gains on an opponent at the Wendy’s Invitational race. “I did okay in this race. I did pretty good the first three miles I was on pace, but the last 200 meters, I had nothing left,” said Gordon. Photo credits: Spencer Fairbetter

Ian Biles, Feature Desk Lead for the Powderhorn 

Watauga Cross Country has a long, storied history of success. The men’s and women’s teams have consistently competed for conference and state championships since their founding.  The women’s team has won the conference 74 times and states an impressive five times, while the men’s team has won 37 conference titles and three state championships. Helping to lead the charge for this year's men’s team is a surprising competitor, Evan Gordon. 

Gordon, a freshman who ran for Grace Academy in middle school, has quickly risen to the top of Watauga’s Varsity Men’s Team and currently holds the unofficial title of Watauga Men’s Cross Country’s fastest freshman of all time. Although he began cross country in 5th grade, running has been a significant part of Gordon’s life from an early age.

“I started running for fun when I was three,” said Gordon. “I ran because I wanted to play soccer when I was little, but then I found out about distance running, and that I was pretty good at it.”

Watauga’s Cross Country Team is famous for its community. Although he ran with a team in middle school, Gordon says that the high school team’s community has made an impact on his competition. 

“When I started the season in the summer. I wasn't doing really good,” said Gordon. “But when I came here, I felt really welcome to the team, and then I've been working hard doing workouts and easy runs, recovering well. My coaches have been really good on that, same with my teammates. We just all worked together, and I've been getting better over the season”

Gordon’s improvements have been impressive. With a 16.14 5K PR [Personal Record], as well as a 10:50 PR in the two-mile, Gordon’s times make him the fastest runner on the team and the third fastest freshman in the state. Individual statistics such as personal records are a crucial part of sports like cross country, where there is a heavy emphasis on both personal and team performance. Gordon’s memory of his 5K PR ranks among his favorite moments as an athlete. 

“When I finished Adidas [an overnight, invitational race hosted in Cary], the clock said 16:14,” said Gordon. “ I thought I was going to go really slow [that race], so getting that time was really a big confidence booster for me and really meaningful.”

Cross country is unique because it functions as both an individual and team sport. Athletes compete for both individual times and points for their team based on race placement. While the running itself is largely individual, Gordon noted the importance of cross country’s team aspect.

“Just racing on Varsity and being able to cheer all my teammates on and scoring points for Watauga has been fundamental to my running this year,” said Gordon. He enjoys “when we go on our long runs, being able to explore Boone, just running on the Greenway, discussing, and having fun”

Gordon’s presence as both a runner and a teammate has certainly made an impact on the team, helping them to maintain the number one rank in 6A. He hopes to continue that success throughout his high school career, and on to college. 

“I'm going to continue to run all four years of high school,” said Gordon.  “Then hopefully go to college. My dream college would be UNC, because they have really good coaches and really good athletes running for them right now, and it would be really cool to run for them.”