Warriors revel: Tiebreaker in boys' meet; Kirkland leads girls' charge to defending crown

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 17, 2008 1:46 PM

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Who says a sixth man exists in just football and basketball?

How about cross country?

For the second time in the last four years, a sixth-place finish determined the overall outcome in the Bill Kemp Cross Country Championships contested on a hot Thursday afternoon.

Perennial powers Eastern Wayne and Wayne Christian dueled to a 34-34 deadlock once the boys' results had been tabulated. But the Warriors, the reigning champions, retained the crown when Cole Newsome crossed the finish line ahead of the Eagles' Anthony Mulligan.

In 2005, the Eastern Wayne girls and archrival Charles B. Aycock tied for first place and the Golden Falcons triumphed with a better sixth-place time. Since then, the two talent-ladened teams have staged some thrilling endings.

History undoubtedly repeated itself during the eighth installment of the annual event ran on the hilly and historic Waynesborough Park course. Eastern Wayne, led by senior Leanna Kirkland, claimed a narrow 30-32 victory over the Golden Falcons.

Kirkland ran the 5K trail in 22 minutes, 34 seconds. Teammate Kelly Gregorcyk claimed second in 22:47, which was her best performance in meet history. Overall, the Warriors had five runners end up among the top 12 competitors.

Wayne Christian's Jennifer Price, the 2006 champion, exited the woods first and led a steady stream of runners through the backside of the park. But she lost momentum and Kirkland slowly gained ground, passing Gregorcyk and Southern Wayne's Yolanda Rodriguez.

"That Southern Wayne girl during track season, she annihilated me," said a grinning Kirkland. "I've been trying to beat her all season. After I passed her, it was like I got what I wanted. Then I thought 'why not' go for more?

"I ran my race this time. I kept a target."

Aycock's Lorena Estrada captured third in 23:18, followed by Rodriguez (23:21) and fellow Golden Falcon Kendra Speight (23:23). Price faded to sixth, while the Warriors' Sarah Ricker seized seventh place. Completing the top 10 were three Aycock runners -- Megan Hales, 2007 champion Caroline Schlaeppi and Anita Arellano.

On the boys' side, 2007 runner-up Josh Magnus finally got the one title missing off his impressive prep resume. The Wayne Christian senior ran an outstanding 18:08 and beat teammate Justin Brathwaite, the runner-up, by nearly half a minute.

"Justin wasn't close to me, but he was there the whole time and that motivated me to run harder," said Magnus. "We're good friends and he's a good-spirited person, so I try to be the same.

"We push each other."

Brathwaite gained confidence in a non-conference meet Tuesday at Eastern Wayne. He finished second behind Hunt's lanky Pierre Surrette, a strong distance runner who is favored to win next week's Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference meet.

"Today, I felt pretty good and was excited," said Brathwaite. "I got a little tired my second mile, but picked up and pushed on through. Russell (Turner) was right behind me and he's a good runner.

"I always need somebody to push me and that's God's way of helping me out."

Turner, from Eastern Wayne, crossed the line third in 18:41. Teammates Zach Parrish and Lamont Woodard soon followed with times of 19:00 and 19:03, respectively.

"The last race at our place, they were there," said Turner of Magnus and Brathwaite. "I thought going into this race I might have a chance to beat them, but they're too good. I felt like I could have pushed a little bit more, but overall I did pretty well."

Rounding out the top 10 were Southern Wayne's Chase Gardner and Kahlil Artis; Eastern Wayne's Caleb Cooper, Wayne Christian's Cooper Jones; and Rosewood's Nick Britt. Britt, who ran a 19:31, won the Carolina 1-A Conference championship on Wednesday.

Goldsboro's top finisher was sophomore Charles Stanley, who finished the course in 24:13.

Meet organizers renamed the event in honor of Bill Kemp, a Goldsboro businessman who urged the county's schools to start cross country programs. Kemp was a state-champion wrestler for the Cougars.