Britt, Egleston pace 1-A runners

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on October 22, 2009 1:46 PM

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SEVEN SPRINGS -- Rosewood's Nick Britt ran in the middle of the pack early in the race.

By the end of the 3.1-mile course at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park, Britt was back in a more familiar position -- the pack leader. Britt won the Carolina 1-A Conference cross country championship on Wednesday with a time of 19 minutes and 11 seconds.

Princeton's Will Toler finished second overall, just five seconds behind the leader. North Duplin's Victor Flores finished third in 19:44.

The Rebels claimed the team championship with 44 points. Caleb Day (20:37), Diego Juarez (20:44), Juan Quirino (20:46) and Braulio Paz (21:13) completed the Rebels' team score. All five runners finished among the top 14.

"These guys have run really well the last two weeks," said North Duplin head coach James Foster. "Before the season we didn't even know we would have the a team because we only had three runners. But then some new guys decided to come out and it's turned out great."

Corey Howell (19:48) raced across the finish line in fourth place overall to lead Spring Creek's effort. Bryan Johnson (19:49) and Devon Deshields (20:10) led Goldsboro in fifth and sixth place, respectively.

Princeton finished in second place in the team standings with 60 points. Goldsboro (74), Spring Creek (79) and Rosewood (99) rounded out the scoring.

On the girls' side, Rosewood topped Princeton 22-35 to claim the team championship. The Eagles and the Bulldawgs were the only teams with enough runners to register a five-runner score.

Spring Creek's Savannah Egelston seized the lead in the opening 100 yards and never looked back as she went on to finish first overall in 24 minutes. Princeton's Hattie Dougherty finished in second place just 11 seconds behind.

It was the first time this season that Egelston was able to out-pace her conference rival.

"I told Savannah, don't think about it just stay ahead and win this one today," said Spring Creek coach Carl Whittington. "She has been second so many times and it's been so close, I was happy for her today."

Rosewood's Holly Heath (26:22) ran third overall just ahead of teammate Jennifer Page (26:47). Mikayla Huff paced Goldsboro in 26:52.

Melissa Summerlin crossed the line as North Duplin's first runner in 31:25, which was good enough for 13th place.

The teams return to action Oct. 31 in the eastern regional at Pender.