Bill Kemp Invitational - Turner beats Eagles' Jones by two steps
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on October 28, 2009 1:47 PM
Neck and neck the entire way.
Wayne Christian's Connor Jones and Eastern Wayne's Russell Turner battled step for step for three miles of the 3.1-mile cross country course at Waynesborough Park on Tuesday afternoon.
Turner eventually pulled away, held off Jones' late charge and emerged the boys' champion in the Bill Kemp Invitational cross country meet. Turner covered the course in 18 minutes, 29 seconds -- one second and two steps ahead of Jones.
"That was one of the best finishes in the history of this race," said Eastern Wayne head coach Sydney Myers. "Both of those young men deserve a lot of credit. With all the teams in the county there are a lot of unknowns, but in the end those two both ran very good races."
Caleb Copper from Eastern Wayne finished third overall in 19:01. Goldsboro's Bryan Johnson claimed fourth in 19:07 and Carolina 1-A champion Nick Britt, of Rosewood, took fifth overall in 19:14.
Charles B. Aycock's Nathan Jones (18:32) ended up sixth, followed by Southern Wayne's Trevor Morgan (20:05) and Spring Creek's John Kearney (20:57).
Eastern Wayne claimed the team championship with 42 points. The Cougars took second with 70, followed by Aycock (97), Southern Wayne (97) and Wayne Christian (121).
There was no photo finish on the girls' side.
Wayne Christian's Jennifer Price appeared on pace to break a school record early in the race, but with coach Lee Price imploring her to keep her pace the Eagles star could not top her previous best mark.
Price finished the race in 22:23 and topped her nearest competitor by one minute.
"I was really proud of how well Jennifer ran today," said coach Price. "She has had some back trouble that's kind of made her season up and down, but today she was excellent."
C.B. Aycock's Caroline Schlaeppi (23:20) crossed the finish line second overall. Spring Creek's Savannah Egleston finished third just in front of the Golden Falcons' Kendra Speight.
The Golden Falcons claimed the team title with 31 points. The Warriors collected 46 points, followed by Wayne Christian (93) and Southern Wayne (118).
All of the squads run again Saturday in their respective eastern regional meets. The 1-A schools travel to Pender, while the 3-A teams compete at South Central.