The Cuthbertson High girls indoor track team will be looking for a repeat performance this winter.

Cuthbertson has established itself as one of the premier track girls track programs in the state in the last year. The Cavaliers girls won the 2017 Class 3A Indoor Track Championships last winter and they followed that up by finishing as the runner-up at the Class 3A Outdoor Track State Championships last spring, finishing just six points behind state champion West Cateret.

The Cuthbertson girls will field an experienced team in winter track led by senior Sarah LaTour. LaTour, who has signed to run cross country and track at North Carolina State, was named the Most Valuable Player at the indoor meet last winter. LaTour was the outdoor state champion in the 1600 and 3200 meter runs last spring and she is coming off a solid cross country season.

The Cuthbertson girls have 75 athletes on the roster and that will provide key depth in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

“We have had some soccer girls come out who are going to play soccer in the spring but they have come out for indoor to try and stay in shape,” said Cuthbertson track coach Dustin Allen. “The good thing is we have everybody but two key people returning, so that is always good.”

Joining LaTour in the distance events are Gabrielle Castro and Madeline Hill. Aubrie Farwell has experience in the 4×400 relay and finished second in the 500-meter at the indoor meet last season. Kaylin Hayes, Florah Henry and Dahlia Cutler all were on the third-place 4×200 relay team at the indoor meet in February.

“Our strength is in our distance races with Sarah coming back,” Allen said. “We had some freshmen do great in cross country and we will see what they can do. But we are really good in a lot of other places, too. We have a really strong sprint squad. I think we will be a good well-rounded team.”

Allen said the state indoor meet in February should be another battle. Defending Class 4A indoor champion Hillsdale is now in Class 3A.

“Even though we are in 3A, Hillsdale is the defending 4A champs,” Allen said. “They are probably looked on it to win it more than we are so the pressure is probably on them.”

The Cuthbertson boys had a top 10 finish at the indoor meet and Allen has over 60 athletes on the boys’ roster. Andrew Kiss had a strong cross country campaign and will contribute in the distance races. Ashton Spangler and Brandon Black will contribute in the sprints and Trevor Grant, who had a solid season with the football team, will compete in the long, triple and high jumps.

“We have some football players coming out, so we should be ready to go,” Allen said. “The boys are going to be really young. We don’t have a lot of seniors.”

Cuthbertson opened their full winter track schedule on Nov. 30.

Cuthbertson boys winter track athletes Trevor Grant, Brandon Black, Ashton Spangler and Kyle Stamper.