Wayne County track and field championships

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on March 10, 2009 1:47 PM

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It's all about numbers.

Putting competitors in every event and racking up points along the way, Charles B. Aycock and Eastern Wayne emerged the men's and women's team champions, respectively, during the 2009 Wayne County Track and Field Championships on Monday afternoon.

Despite having just three individual champions, the Golden Falcons compiled 169 points compared to 153 for runner-up Rosewood. Goldsboro, which claimed three relays, ended up a distant third with 115 points.

Eastern Wayne placed fourth with 71.5 points, followed by Spring Creek (19.5) and Southern Wayne (13).

"It's the type of meet that you make sure you have somebody everywhere," said Rosewood coach Robert Britt. "If you can fill in the events and finish somewhere in the middle of the pack, you've got a shot to be up there (in the team standings)."

Chris Gustafson paced Aycock with first-place performances in the discus (112 feet, 7 inches) and shot put (40-4). Teammate Nick Redding won the 400 run, while Gonzalez captured the 800 crown in 2 minutes, 28 seconds. The Golden Falcons also won the 3,200-meter relay.

Rosewood got gold-medal efforts from Akeem Simms in the high jump, Billy Page in the pole vault and Jacquez Raynor in the 300 hurdles.

Lamar Hicks led Goldsboro's third-place showing by winning three events -- the long jump, triple jump and 110 hurdles. Teammates Tyquan Sprangle and Enrique Moses crossed the finish line first in the 200 and 100 dashes, respectively.

The Cougars claimed the 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter relays.

Eastern Wayne's Zach Parrish grabbed first in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.

On the girls' side, the Warriors turned in the most-dominating performance in meet history. Eastern Wayne swept the relays and had seven individual champions.

Cross country standouts Leanna Kirkland and Kelly Gregorcyk combined for three wins. Kirkland took the 800- and 1,600-meter runs, while Gregorcyk bested the field in the 3,200 run.

Sprinters Brittany Franklin and Jazmine Middleton won the 100 hurdles and 100 dash, respectively. Teammates Jones and McCreary placed first in the 400 and 300 hurdles, respectively.

Spring Creek received gold-medal efforts from Richelle Butler (shot put), Graham (long jump) and Melanique DeVeaux (high jump). Also posting individual wins were Goldsboro's Tiffany Pearsall (discus), Rosewood's Megan Millard (pole vault) and Southern Wayne's Jones (200 dash).