Hoggard’s Mia Medlin caps illustrious career with state title

There was one box for senior Mia Medlin to check off her list of career achievements as a standout cross country runner at Hoggard – an individual state championship.

Mission accomplished. 

Medlin pulled away from Pinecrest’s Alessia Potts midway through Saturday’s NCHSAA 8A race and completed the course at Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville in 17:28.40.

She became just the second cross country state champion in school history, joining Julie Wilhelm from 1997. 

“Winning the state title was something I set out to do from the very beginning,” Medlin said. “I can honestly say that was a dream of mine since before freshman year. It didn’t seem as close then as it has this year, but it’s always been something I’ve wanted to do.”

The Furman commit was dominant in middle school, and that success translated immediately to the longer courses at the high school level.

As a freshman, Medlin finished 23rd out of 159 competitors at states with a time of 18:59.01. She took 50 seconds off that time during her sophomore year to finish third in 18:09.92. 

Last fall, Medlin was the runner-up after completing the course in 18:10.22.

“Mia was the first athlete to come into our program with so much experience and talent,” Hoggard coach Rhonda Schilawski said. “We wanted to make sure her four-year journey was the focus, and she trusted the process.  

“She wanted it so bad, but she was patient enough to know that the work she was putting in day in and day out was leading her to this point.”

Earlier this season, Medlin became the first female in New Hanover County history to break the 17-minute mark when she finished in 16:59.97 at Long Leaf Park. 

Her other list of achievements includes winning three consecutive conference titles as well as the 8A East Regional a week ago at WakeMed Soccer Complex by nearly a minute. 

“The minute I came onto the team, coach Rhonda made it a priority to know what my goals were,” Medlin said. “She prioritizes each girl’s individual goals as well as building the team up, and she has had so much faith in me over the past four years. I would not be where I am today if I had any other high school coach.”

In the 7A classification, New Hanover junior Emma Rogers finished sixth with a time of 18:12.88.

Topsail scored 185 points to place fifth out of 18 teams. Molly Corcoran was 16th in 18:51.81.

The other counting times came from Sophia Norris (27th in 19:25.95), Grace Walker (37th in 19:54.63), Payleigh Newbill (53rd in 20:26.56), and Charlie Ess (78th in 21:03.45). 

Led by Rogers, the Wildcats were eighth with a score of 249. Underclassmen Violet LeRay (51st in 20:24.50) and Audrey Aten (68th in 20:51.27) had strong performances. 

Juniors Alexis George (16th in 18:50.31) and Hayley Ervin (26th in 19:24.50) helped Ashley finish ninth with 265 points.