Under the definition of unlikely champions, the Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team would likely fit the description.
Not because of talent, but due to circumstances.
Yet that didn’t stop the Red Wolves from winning the 3A Mideast Regional championship at Owens Recreation Park in Louisburg on Saturday. Senior Naomi Dyreng, the individual Central Conference champions, finished second overall as the Red Wolves came in with 74 points, holding off runner-up Carrboro, who registered 84.
Freshman Isabella Taylor-Hall finished eleventh while another freshman, Illa Diaz, came in 15th. Cedar Ridge, which won the Central Conference championship in Burlington earlier this month, went from finishing fourth in the Mideast Regionals last year to a championship in 2024.
When head coach Jared Buddington started workouts in August, he wasn’t expecting a high level of success so quickly. Abigail Klaitman, the Red Wolves’ second-most experienced runner who finished 7th in the Mideast Regionals last year, has missed most of this season because of injuries.
“I really didn’t expect to be as good as we are,” Buddington said. “We’re really young. We have a lot of underclassmen. Gracie Whitaker has been a huge factor in our success. So has Isabella and Illa. It’s been a pleasant surprise.”
Taylor-Hall showed up on the first day of practice after being absent during summer workouts. Buddington thought Taylor-Hall would be a nice addition to increase participation numbers. Then in the first Central Conference race of the year, Taylor-Hall finished 5th overall to help Cedar Ridge win a tri-meet at Orange. Since then, she’s shaved off nearly three-and-a-half minutes from her personal best.
“She’s sort of become our #2 runner,” Buddington said. “Without Abigail, Isabella has really stepped up to fill that role of the second runner.”
Whitaker, who finished 21st in regionals, has made the eighth biggest improvement in the state from freshman to sophomore year. Last year, her personal best was 25:15.90 . This year, it’s 21:44.09.
“At the very beginning of this year, she said I want us to be a good team,” Buddington said of Whitaker. “She started putting in a lot of miles as soon as soccer season ended. She’s been really consistent.”
Another multi-sport athlete, sophomore Kate Finnegan, finished in 25th place at regionals.
“Without Kate making a big jump, I don’t think the girls would have won the region,” Buddington said. “She was one of our best runners.”
The championship came after a year of turmoil within the program. In 2023, former head coach Bruce Smith was fired in midseason, which attracted an outcry from parents and some students. Buddington, a former Cedar Ridge runner who was an assistant at Pinecrest, was thrust into the position of interim coach. Not only was he in charge of two cross country teams, he was also left trying to unite a divided household. Results didn’t come immediately.
Buddington called a team meeting in the J-wing Auditorium after Smith’s departure. He vowed to the runners that they would be a good team and would move forward together. Conner Buddington, Jared’s sister-in-law, joined the staff last October.
“I really didn’t know what to do because I had never been a head coach before,” Buddington said. “I wasn’t sure if I was capable of taking over this program. But I had to sit down with the kids. At first, they were upset because they lost a head coach that they had grown to know. I think throughout the last year and three months, they’ve grown to appreciate what we offer the team.”
After winning the conference and regional championships, the Red Wolves will move on to the 3A State Championships at the Ivey Redmond Sports Complex this Saturday afternoon.
“I think there’s a huge value in giving kids in high school a structured running plan,” Buddington said. “I think that giving them all the tools to succeed and telling them exactly what to do each day and letting them see what they need to do really guides them to where they want to be. But I also think we also foster a strong community where we value developing runners and believing in our kids.”
Conner Buddington believes practices have become part of a fun day for the runners.
“They really enjoy being around each other,” Conner said. “They have a lot of fun as individuals, but they have a lot of fun together. So they’re not dreading going to practice. They get to come see their friends and run with their friends. The way they support each other before and after the race. The girls supporting the guys. The guys supporting the girls. It’s a lot of fun to see.”