LEXINGTON, Ohio — North Carolina State is getting a steal.
Lexington’s Dominique Clairmonte signed her national letter of intent with the Wolfpack on Tuesday, capping what was a sensational — albeit star-crossed — high school cross country career.
The two-time Richland Source Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year, Clairmonte led Lady Lex to the Division II team title at the state meet earlier this month. She finished fourth overall in 18 minutes, 29.22 seconds as Lexington lived up to its season-long billing as the state’s top Division II program.
Lady Lex, which was state runner-up three of the past six years, finished with just 64 points at the state meet at National Trail Raceway. Tippecanoe was a distant second with 125. The 64 points were the fewest by a Division II team since Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary scored 53 in 2012.
Clairmonte won sectional and district championships and ran a remarkable 17:39 at the Galion Cross Country Festival despite missing a turn late in the race.
As a junior, Clairmonte won five individual state championships. She captured indoor and outdoor 1,600 and 3,200 crowns in addition to her cross country title.
Clairmonte missed almost her entire sophomore year of cross country with a stress fracture. She returned in time for her sophomore track season and finished fifth at state in the 1,600.
She will compete in both cross country and track at NC State, located in Raleigh, N.C.
Just don’t ask the distance ace what her favorite event is.
“That’s a hard question,” Clairmonte said at the state track meet last June. “I don’t know what my favorite event is and I don’t know what my best event is.”
Clairmonte is joined on the All-Richland Source first team by Lady Lex teammates Whitney Wendling, Mackenna Curtis-Collins and Abby Miller and Mansfield Christian’s Claire Reynolds.
A junior, Wendling emerged as Lexington’s No. 2 runner during the postseason. She was runner-up to Clairmonte at the sectional tournament at Galion (18:48) and again at the Tiffin regional (18:35.3). Wendling was ninth at the state meet, finishing in 18:42.8.
A sophomore, Curtis-Collins was fourth at the Galion district (19:30) and fourth at the Tiffin regional (18:40.3). Curtis-Collins finished 11th at state (18:53.3).
Miller had a sensational senior season for Lady Lex. She was third at the Galion sectional (18:57), third at the Tiffin regional (18:38.9) and joined Clairmonte, Wendling and Curtis-Collins on the podium with a 13th-place finish (18:55.7) at state.
A junior who qualified for the Division III state track meet in the 3,200 last spring, Reynolds had a strong postseason. She won a district title at Galion in a personal record 19:10.18 and finished eighth at the Youngstown Boardman regional in 19:44.20. At the state meet, Reynolds finished 37th in 19:44.1.
