Forrest, Robinson earn all-ECC honors in swim meet

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 24, 2005 1:55 PM

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Charles B. Aycock's Garrett Forrest and Eastern Wayne's Ashley Robinson each claimed a pair of individual titles in the Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference swimming championships contested Saturday morning at the Goldsboro Family Y.

Forrest, a sophomore, touched the wall first in the 50 free in 26.56 seconds. She added the 100 yard free title (59.10) to her resume later in the day and earned all-ECC honors for the first-place efforts.

Robinson, also a sophomore, dominated the 200 individual medley with a mark 2:22.15 -- more than five seconds faster than her nearest competitor. She also captured the 500 free with a time of 5:35.98 and concluded the day as an all-ECC performer.

Robinson helped the Warriors' 200 medley relay take second (2:07.83) behind eventual ECC team champion West Carteret. Joining Robinson were senior Hina New, senior Denise Moulas and junior Rachael Stoneburner.

Forrest and her Golden Falcon teammates -- Dana Gylfadottir, Sugeyris Cepeda and Cristina Pender -- captured fourth in the 200 medley relay. The quartet's time was 2:22.79.

Moulas swam one leg on the ECC champion 200 free relay squad, which nipped runner-up West Carteret by less than two seconds. Joining Moulas were Regan Stoneburner, Misti Cork and Esther Onstine.

The Patriot girls won the seven-team meet with 107 points. Eastern Wayne settled for second with 98, followed by South Central (78), C.B. Aycock (49), Washington (35), Kinston (27) and Southern Wayne (12).

Eastern Wayne's Rob Cagle ended up second in the 50 free (25.06) and third in the 100 free (56.1). The Warriors finished seventh overall with 11 points, while West Carteret emerged the team champion with 114.

Garrett Smith, a senior at C.B. Aycock, turned in a third-place time of 1:23.55 in the 100 butterfly. Teammate Kalvin LeRoy finished second in the 500 free in 6:26.7. The Golden Falcons secured third place in the team-title chase with 55.

SouthernWayne's Jonathan Whaley took second in the 100 backstroke in 1:17.65. The Saints wound up the day fifth overall with 37 points.

C.B. Aycock takes Laney Duals

WILMINGTON -- Several C.B. Aycock grapplers finished the day unbeaten as the Golden Falcons claimed Laney Duals championship contested Saturday at E.A. Laney High School.

Aycock (12-1) swept its opponents in pool play -- New Hanover (62-6), West Brunswick (69-6) and Jacksonville Northside 56-18. Coach Kevin Smith's squad claimed the title with a hardfought 44-28 decision against the host Buccaneers.

"The Laney match was great," Smith said. "It had a playoff feel to it; lots of emotion and intensity. It was excellent preparation for the weeks to come. Tough matches make you better and the Laney match was definitely a tough match."

The Golden Falcons trailed 19-17 after 140-pounder Ronald Lynn endured a tough 7-3 loss. Randy Meisenhelder started a 27-0 run for Aycock with a 4-0 decision at 145. Tim Harrison (152), Jason Steed (160) and John Robertson (171) followed with consecutive pins to seal the victory.

Andy Wilson, a junior transfer from Virginia, received a forfeit to give the Golden Falcons control at 44-19. Laney, of the Mideastern 3-A/4-A Conference, prevailed in the final two individual bouts.

"We looked pretty solid all day," Smith said. "I thought we looked really good on our feet, and we turned a lot of kids from top. We still need to work on our standings and second moves from bottom."

Aycock's wrestlers recorded the initial takedown in 35 matches and collected 17 pins.

Meisenhelder, Harrison, Robertson, Derek Lancaster (112), Ngu Tran (119) and Bryant Lancaster (130) each posted 4-0 marks. Wilson concluded the day 3-0, while Will Medus finished 1-0.

Lynn and Turner Wood each ended the day 3-1.

"I am very glad we went this weekend," Smith said. "I think we made ourselves better and the experience should be a positive for us over the next few weeks."

Aycock wraps up its regular-season schedule at home Tuesday against county rival Eastern Wayne. The winner earns the No. 2 seed from the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference for the N.C. High School Athletic Association dual-team playoffs, scheduled to begin Feb. 1.

Conquerors endure MACAA loss

The Faith Christian women's basketball team battled Gateway (Va.) Christian for three quarters before mistakes and missed shots proved critical in a 41-30, Mid-Atlantic Christian Athletic Association defeat Friday evening.

"It was a pretty even game through the first half," said Faith Christian coach Eddie Smith. "Between poor shooting in the second half and maybe a few too many turnovers, we wound up losing the ability to win the game."

The Conquerors (4-7) remained winless against MACAA opposition heading into today's home game against Bethel Christian of Kinston.

Christie Charles emerged Faith's top scorer with eight points. Elizabeth Clark added seven points, 14 rebounds, five assists and five steals.

"She played an overall outstanding game," Smith said of Clark.

Elizabeth Christopher and Natalie Thibeaux combined for nine points. Melissa Howell didn't scratch in the scoring column, but finished with nine rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots.

Erica Davis and Rebecca Webster led Gateway with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Eagles fall in CCC

FAYETTEVILLE -- Ashley Clark notched a team-high 18 points as Wayne Christian suffered a 75-47 loss Friday evening at Class 1-A Carolina Christian Conference opponent Village Christian.

Stacey McCary added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles, who fell to 7-7 overall and 3-4 in the CCC. They continue play Tuesday at Cape Fear Christian in Erwin.

Brooke Norris and Jennica Botonis, who grabbed a team-leading 10 rebounds, contributed six points apiece. Norris also pulled down six rebounds.