Carolina 1-A cross country meet at Rosewood
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 23, 2010 1:47 PM
Different course.
Same result.
Rosewood's Nick Britt and Princeton's Hattie Doherty emerged victorious during their respective races in the second Carolina 1-A Conference cross country meet contested at Rosewood High School on a sun-splashed, hot Wednesday afternoon.
Britt toured the 5K course in 19 minutes, 30 seconds -- 16 seconds quicker than his nearest competitor, runner-up Bryan Johnson of Goldsboro.
"I just went out there, and ran for God and His glory," said Britt, the reigning News-Argus cross country athlete-of-the-week. "I prayed that He would just help me run my best."
Johnson trailed Britt and Princeton's Will Toler after one lap, but Toler did not finish the meet due to experiencing tightness in his chest on the second lap. Johnson stayed within striking distance of Britt most of the meet.
"(The time) was pretty good and all I was trying to do was stay close to Nick," said Johnson. "Compared to the times this year, I'm staying closer to him than I was last year. I'm getting closer and closer to him every race."
The Eagles' Travis Cuddington logged a personal-best mark of 20:28 on the relatively flat layout. Princeton's Quinn Doherty placed fourth in 20:58, followed by Cape Fear's Chad Turlington (20:51).
Cape Fear's Kenneth Gillian took sixth in 21:25. Princeton's Matt Edwards crossed the finish line in 21:35 -- just three seconds ahead of North Duplin's Caleb Day, who placed eighth. Princeton teammates Jonathan Croom and Will Denning captured ninth and 10th, respectively.
The Dogs won the team portion with 41 points. Rosewood (55 points) grabbed second with North Duplin a distant third at 92. Goldsboro (108), Cape Fear (111) and Midway (117) completed the team scoring.
Tamarius Bryant emerged Goldsboro's top scorer with a time of 27:38. Spring Creek's Ian Ladd (23:22) and Greg Abbott (23:30) wound up 24th and 25th, respectively.
On the girls' side, Christine Conger (29:56) and Autumn Goff (29:36) ran personal-best times to help Rosewood edge archrival Princeton, 22-35, for team supremacy.
The Dogs' Doherty seized first in 24:38 -- more than 90 seconds faster than runner-up Lindsey Newton of Cape Fear. Goldsboro's Mikayla Huf (27:08) grabbed third place, followed by Rosewood's Chloee Lamb (27:10) and North Duplin's Samantha Wilkins.
"The course has no shade," laughed Doherty. "I didn't really feel a breeze, either, so it was kind of difficult because it was really hot. The course is flat, not really any hills, so that was easy. But it is hard when the sun is beating down on you."
The Rebels' Miranda Connor (28:49) and the Cougars' Tiara Maynor (29:10) secured sixth and seventh place, respectively.
Spring Creek's Sydney Bowers and Janna Price were 24th and 25th, overall.