Since Cary Christian School opened in 1996, it had never won a state championship.

Last week, in the span of five days, the Knights won two.

On May 13, the boys’ golf team won the N.C. Independent Schools 2-A state championship in Fayetteville. On Saturday, the girls soccer team beat Fayetteville Academy 2-1 to win the the NCISAA 2-A state championship.

The Knights shot a two-day 589 to win the tournament at Bayonet at Puppy Creek by 22 strokes. The O’Neal School and Arendell Parrott Academy tied for second at 611.

“It was a fantastic week,” said Christian golf coach Preston Edmondson. “It was a big, big thing for us. We were gunning for it all year.”

Cary Christian senior Lee Bedford led the Knights with a 142 total, and he finished third overall. O’Neal’s Michael McGowan and Covenant Day’s John Varol both shot 140.

Bedford was tied with McGowan for first place after the first round, when both shot three-under 69. Bedford followed that up with a one-over 73.

The Knights demonstrated remarkable consistency over the course of 36 holes. Alex Harris shot 73-72, Zachary Edmondson shot 73-74 and Drew Griffin shot 77-78. That trio plus Bedford gave Cary Christian a 15-stroke lead after the first round, when it shot 292, and brought the title home in the second, when it shot 297.

Though their rounds did not count toward the team score, Peter Brannon shot 80-81 and Keith Hylwa shot 81-84.

“I’ll put my scores up with anybody in the state,” Edmondson said.

With good cause, too.

His team’s 36-hole score of 589 was 13 strokes better than what Kerr-Vance shot to win the NCISAA 1-A title and 19 better than Ravenscroft’s 3-A championship-winning score. Of the four N.C. High School Athletic Association champions, only 4-A champ Pinecrest had a better score (586).

Title No. 2

The five seniors on the Cary Christian girls’ soccer team were playing in their third straight championship game Saturday in Fayetteville.

They finally experienced the joy of winning the title instead of the heartbreak of coming up short.

Christa White and Salem Woody scored, leading Christian to a 2-1 win over Fayetteville Academy in the final.

“The happiest part for me was we played so well,” said Christian coach Rick Wharton. “We didn’t play well in the quarterfinals. We didn’t play well in semifinals. They played a spectacular game in the finals, which is what we’ve focused on all year.”

White gave Christian (17-1-1) a 1-0 lead in the first 10 minutes, and Woody scored an insurance goal in the final 10.

Though his team led throughout, Wharton was never comfortable with the lead, whatever the margin.

“It was a concern because they’re so explosive,” Wharton said. “They can get the ball downfield so quickly. Their athletes are so fast.”

FA got one back inside of two minutes to play, but Christian prevailed, giving Kelsey Duncan, Tylar Brannon, Jessica Lewandowski, Rachel Wharton and Woody the state championship they’d twice missed out on.

“It’s just tremendous, particularly for our five seniors,” Wharton said. “We started our program four years ago. The first year, we lost in the first round, but we were just happy to get in. The second year, we went to the finals and lost. We moved up to 2-A last year, made it to the finals and lost again. … We got down to finals here and it was their last chance. It was quite an event.”