Bill Kemp Invitational won by C.B. Aycock

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 27, 2011 1:48 PM

• Print
• Email

Run hard and make your last meet as a team memorable.

Charles B. Aycock did just that Wednesday afternoon.

The Golden Falcons executed their coach's advice to near perfection and almost took home all the hardware from the 2011 Bill Kemp Invitational contested at historic Waynesborough Park.

Marvin Alexander shaved 60 seconds off his previous personal-best time and helped guide the Aycock boys to the team title in the closest finish ever logged in Invitational history. Twelve points separated the four competing teams with Aycock getting 50, followed by Spring Creek (52), Eastern Wayne (61) and Rosewood (62).

"Wow, a very good race," said Spring Creek head coach Mike Jones.

On the girls' side, Aycock sophomore Cheyenne Warrick emerged the girls' individual champion and the Golden Falcons edged Eastern Wayne 26-35 in the team race. Rosewood was third with 57 points.

Warrick crossed the finish line in 22 minutes, 45 seconds -- nearly half a minute quicker than runner-up Ashley Ames of Eastern Wayne. The Golden Falcons placed five runners among the top 11 and six among the top 15 overall.

"I was tight today, but I wanted to win," said Warrick. "There were good runners behind me that I didn't want to beat me, so I pushed. Then again, I don't examine my competition, I just run."

Cady Sheeks claimed sixth in 24:26. Transfer Chloe Lamb (24:50), Gracie Parrott (25:02) and Myra Waheed (25:06) completed the team score. Teammates Ariel Strickland placed 11th, while Alexa Vincent ended up 15th.

"A nice reward for all their hard work," said Aycock head coach Sheila Covar of the title sweep. "They all ran well ... several had personal-best times."

Eastern Wayne's Cristella Rochelle (23:14) and Goldsboro's tandem of Mikayla Huf (24:14) and Grayson Collins (24:16) rounded out the top five.

Kasie Elliott led Rosewood's charge with a 13th-place finish.

The boys' race was tight through the first lap on the hilly terrain, but Nick Britt increased the distance on his competitors in the woods. The Rosewood senior recorded a first-place and personal-best time of 18:24 this season and finished 17 seconds ahead of runner-up Allen Coor from Spring Creek.

Britt expected to battle 2010 champ Connor Jones, who runs for Wayne Christian, which couldn't compete in the race due to a school policy. Instead, he stayed in front of competitors from three different schools and pulled away when he felt some pressure.

"Not running against Wayne Christian kind of gave me some high spirits to run better," said Britt. "It was a hard run. Once we got onto the woods trail, I started hearing less footsteps but I wasn't quite sure. Sounds echo so you never know how close someone is or how far someone is behind you.

"It was a good thing because it pushed me to work harder."

Eastern Wayne's Warren Kirkwood took third in 18:46, followed by Alexander in 19:06. The Gators' Gage Abbott (19:31) and Goldsboro's Victor Prezbindowski (19:35) claimed fifth and sixth, respectively.

Kirkwood, who also wrestles, set a PR compared to last year's meet at Waynesborough Park.

"Third? I think that's pretty good," grinned Kirkwood. "It was definitely an improvement. Midway through the second lap the Rosewood guy (Britt) pulled pretty far ahead and I was catching up to Spring Creek (Coor), but didn't have much of a chance to pass him."

Rosewood's Travis Cuddington (19:47), Aycock's Austin Walker (20:10), Spring Creek's Justin Cianfarra (20:19) and Eastern Wayne's Timmy Cooper (20:34) each posted a top-10 finish.

The top seven runners received medals.

A total of 58 runners competed in the event.