Gators' Coor, Eagles' Duran emerge top individual runners

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on October 9, 2013 1:49 PM

• Print
• Email

rhanchett@newsargus.com

What a difference a day can make.

The runners involved in the Carolina 1-A Cross Country meet at Rosewood High School spent Monday afternoon practicing in temperatures near 80 degrees. The wind picked up and the temps dropped into the 60s on Tuesday.

Rosewood's boys team battled through the conditions and won the boys' meet. Princeton's girls team finished first overall as well.

"Today was definitely tough," Princeton head coach Mark McLamb said. "The wind was blowing, the course was wet, but our girls made the most of it."

Princeton tallied 43 team points. Rosewood came in second with 50 points, followed by North Duplin (60) and Hobbton (80).

The Bulldogs were led by Amber Johnson's fourth-place time of 24 minutes. Abby Rubio ran sixth, Altheia Bellageo seventh and Courtney Brewer ninth as Princeton captured four spots in the top 10.

Rosewood's Ashley Duran finished first overall in 23:24. Teammates Brynna Lee ran fifth and Rebecca Fitzmorris ran 10th.

North Duplin was led by Genesis Orellano's second-place finish in 23:40. Haley Thurston cross the line third overall in 23:52.

Ashley Marriner emerged as Spring Creek's top runner with a time of 25 minutes, which was good enough for eighth overall.

On the boys' side, Rosewood finished with 40 team points. Spring Creek collected 54 points, followed by Princeton (60), Hobbton (108) and North Duplin (119).

"Our boys have won each conference meet this season and today we kept the momentum going," Rosewood head coach Travis Weeks said. "We have the advantage of having a large group of runners and we have some young talent at the top."

Dalton Farmer paced the Eagles with a third-place finish in 19:21. Jacob Johnson (21:01) ran seventh, Jeffry Bryan (21:08) ninth and Andrew Kellar (21:21) ended up 10th for the Eagles.

Alan Coor crossed the finish line first overall with a time of 18:49 to lead Spring Creek. Teammate Gage Abbott finished second in 19:10.

Princeton's trio of Jose Morello (19:22), Hunter Mitchell (19:34) and Matt Edwards (19:49) finished fifth through seventh, respectively.

Ryan Miller led North Duplin with a 14th-place run in 22:27.

The teams return to action Oct. 15 for the season-ending Carolina 1-A Conference championship meets at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park.