Topsail runner Grayson Dillknew he needed something special.
Thursday's Carolina Coast Conference cross-country championship offered the Pirates senior a chance to claim his first conference title, but there was more at stake than another trophy.
Dill had something to prove. To those who doubted him, and perhaps more importantly, to himself.
He wanted to prove he was still one of North Carolina's fastest runners.
“Deep down, I knew this was one of the few chances I had left to prove I’m still fast,” Dill said.
And he left little room for doubt.
Dill blazed through the course at Olsen Park in Wilmington Thursday, Oct. 15, capturing the conference championship
in 15 minutes, 14 seconds, nearly 44 seconds ahead of his closest competitor.
For a runner with Dill's resume, such a dominant performance might seem unsurprising. Last fall, he became the first boy in Topsail history to win a cross-country state title, claiming the NCHSAA 7A championship.
But the road back to the top hasn't been as smooth as he imagined.
“There was a little bit of doubt in my head that I could get as quick as I was last year,” Dill said.
A handful of slower times this fall, coupled with what he described as disappointing performances at national competitions, left Dill wondering whether his best days were already behind him.
In 2025, he clocked a personal-best 15:10.40 at the Great American XC Festival. Entering Thursday, he hadn't come particularly close to matching that mark this season.
For someone who had spent much of his high school career outrunning the competition, the biggest challenge had become outrunning his own expectations.
But something about a conference championship, and the lingering questions surrounding his speed, brought out the best in Dill.
Even with a commanding lead down the final stretch, Dill refused to coast. He sprinted through the finish line, pumping his arms and powering forward until the race was officially his.
His 15:14 finish was just seconds shy of his personal best, and it delivered both his first conference championship and something he had been searching for all season.
Reassurance.
The runner who made Topsail history a year ago hadn't disappeared. He just needed a reminder of what he could still accomplish.
“I know exactly what I’m capable of,” Dill said. “Any doubt is gone.”
2026 Carolina Coast Conference cross-country winners
Highlighting the girls championship race, Amelia Medlin continued to dominate, finishing first with a time of 18:23.42.
The Hoggard senior earned her third straight league title with the win and has never finished worse than second place in a league title race in her high school career.
Medlin is Wilmington’s fastest girls cross-country athlete ever. On Oct. 8, she shattered her own area-record in the 5K by finishing 16:56.97 at Long Leaf Park. That time is the fifth-best in North Carolina history, according to state tracker NC Milesplit.
Below are the top finishes from Thursday’s Carolina Coast Conference championship races.
Boys
- Grayson Dill, Sr., Topsail: 15:14.75
- Michael Enriquez, Sr., New Hanover: 15:58.85
- Ralph Pfeil Jr., Hoggard: 16:11.41
- Gabe Nalepa Sr., Hoggard: 16:37.99
- Ethan Cox Soph., Hoggard: 16:39.43 5
Girls
- Amelia Medlin Sr., Hoggard: 18:23.42
- Molly Corcoran Jr., Topsail: 18:42.34
- Sophia Norris Sr., Topsail: 19:10.81
- Hayley Ervin Jr., Ashley: 19:20.81
- Emma Rogers Jr., New Hanover: 19:27.33
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Topsail state champion silences doubt with first cross-country title
