Warrior boys, girls capture team titles
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 27, 2010 1:46 PM
Honor the man that made it all possible.
That was Eastern Wayne boys' head coach Sydney Myers' message before the annual Bill Kemp Invitational got underway at historic Waynesborough Park on Tuesday afternoon. The season-ending meet involving county cross country teams is named for the former county school board member.
The Warriors responded by winning both the boys' and girls' portions of the event.
"We do this to honor Bill Kemp," said Myers. "I appreciate all the teams coming out here. It's a great, great sport where the kids can work hard. Bill pushed that for decades through the high schools. All the kids were out here to honor Bill Kemp."
Eastern Wayne's boys placed four runners in the top 10 and compiled a team score of 43. Wayne Christian finished second with 58 points and Charles B. Aycock was third with 59 points. Rosewood (85), Goldsboro (130) and Southern Wayne (140) rounded out the boys' team scoring.
The Warrior girls tallied a team score of 22 points and placed four runners in the top seven. Southern Wayne collected a score of 34. None of the other four schools entered enough runners to earn a team score.
Eastern Wayne's Heather Black edged out teammate Cristel Rochell with a time of 23 minutes, 54 seconds to claim the girls' individual county championship. Rochell finished in 23:55. Eastern Wayne's Morgan Exum (25:44), Kristen Larson (26:07) and Christy Interrante were sixth, seventh and 12th, respectively.
Wayne Christian's Connor Jones won the boys' race with a time of 17:51. Goldsboro's Bryan Johnson was second in 18:47 and just edged Rosewood's Nick Britt, who crossed the line in 18:51.
"I just ran as fast as I could," said Jones. "I just kept thinking how great is our God? Because he can do everything. I ran as fast as I could and tried to stay out in front. I just run for my team and try to give all I can."
The Warriors' Caleb Cooper finished fourth with a time of 19:22 and teammate Warren Kirkwood was fifth in 19:42. Eastern Wayne's Denzel Benjamin (20:10) and Nolan Kirkwood were seventh and eighth, respectively.
"Our kids ran as a group," said Myers. "That's how we've trained all year. They really push each other every day in practice. They're great kids and I'm proud of every one of them."
Aycock's Corey Hans earned a sixth-place finish in 19:46, while teammate Alexander Roger (20:27) was ninth. The Golden Falcons' Doug Watkins (20:39) was 12th and Austin Walker (21:24) was 15th.
Wayne Christian's Spencer Foster (20:23) captured 10th place and Mark Sawyer (20:51) was 13th. The Saints' Quadri Foster finished 14th with a time of 21:01.
Kanseha Jones was Southern Wayne's top female finisher with a time of 27:47, which was good enough for ninth place. Teammates Sharonnne Maultsby (27:58), Shannon Casto (28:38) and Donnelia DeWitt (28:59) captured the 10th, 11th and 14th places, respectively.
Goldsboro's Mikayla Huff seized third place with a time of 24:56. Tiara Maynor (25:42) was the Cougars' other runner in the top 15 with a fifth place finish.
Rosewood's Chloe Lamb grabbed fourth place in 25:31 and Kasie Elliot (29:04) was 15th. Wayne Christian's Sarah Allen (27:08) finished eighth.