Paint it purple: Rosewood sweeps Carolina 1A team track titles

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 10, 2014 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

PRINCETON -- "Finish!" yelled Alysse Atwell as she took the baton from Rosewood teammate Jamekia Best during the 1,600-meter relay Wednesday afternoon.

Atwell and her teammates finished in impressive fashion, indeed.

Rosewood seized gold medals in seven individual events, emerged victorious in two relays and easily "three-peated" as the Class 1-A Carolina Conference women's track and field team champion at the Fred Bartholomew Jr. Athletic Complex. The Eagles compiled 179 points and won their seventh league championship since 1998, according to conference records.

Princeton finished runner-up with 88 points. League newcomer Neuse Charter ended up a distant third with 58 points. Lakewood edged James Kenan 48-47 for fourth place. North Duplin (44 points), Spring Creek (31) and Hobbton (10) rounded out the eight-team field.

"We had an experienced girls team," RHS head coach Robert Britt said. "We've got girls who play soccer and softball, so this is really the first meet that we've had everybody with us and we felt confident on the girls' side that we would be able to compete compared to what we did last year."

Atwell secured individual crowns in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and triple jump. Lexi Mercer won the high jump and 400 dash. Distance specialist Ashley Duran dusted the competition by 13 seconds in the 3,200-meter run.

Krystal Yelverton turned back Atwell in the 100 hurdles and Brynna Lee continued her season-long success in the pole vault. Deziree Baker logged the meet's best throw in the discus.

The Eagles won the 800 and 1,600 relays.

"You have to finish strong no matter how tired you are," said Atwell, who ran the anchor leg on the 1,600 relay. "Those hand-offs are the important things and in a (relay) race, you can win or lose by hand-off. It was our race.

"We've come a long way. Rosewood didn't use to be known for running or anything, and I feel like we are making a name for ourselves."

North Duplin's Haley Thurston took the league crown in the 800 and helped the 3,200 relay capture gold.

James Kenan's Christy Debnam recorded first-place performances in three events -- 100 and 200 dashes, and long jump. She also ran the anchor leg on the gold medal-winning 400 relay.

Spring Creek's Rachel McCollum won the shot put.

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"I hear ya big boy!" Dalton Farmer shouted as he crossed the finish line behind teammate Zack Barnes in the 800-meter men's final.

Barnes broke free from the three-man pack that included long-time friend, Spring Creek senior Gage Abbott, during the final 100 meters and was just one of two RHS competitors to claim an individual championship in the eight-team meet.

"That was a heckuva race," said Barnes, who crossed the line in 2 minutes, 15.99 seconds. "My teammate Dalton ... at the beginning of the race, we were like we had to push each other. Gage has always been a competitor with me and we always like racing against each other.

"We all knew in the end that it was going to be a run for the money. Whoever finished the strongest was going to win it."

Barnes and 110 hurdles champion Marquail Almontaser helped Rosewood compile 155 points and dethrone defending champion Princeton, which scored 123. Barnes ran the anchor legs on the Eagles' meet-winning 1,600 and 3,200 relays.

Rosewood won its third conference championship in the past four seasons and 10th overall since 1998.

"We have a young guys team and had to build as the season went on," Britt said. "Once we figured out where people could be the most successful, that was about midseason. We thought we had a pretty good chance to win it.

"We knew it would be tight, but we came out and performed well. I'm proud of them."

Princeton's Johnny Frasier matched the conference record (11.07 seconds) en route to the 100-meter dash. Teammate Jose Augillon secured gold medals in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs.

The Bulldogs' quartet of Nick Hare, Justin Huber, Matt Stallworth and Jarrett Pearce won the 800 relay in 1:41.32 -- 1 1/2 seconds lower than their seeded time.

"I'm pretty happy with the second-place finishes for Princeton," PHS head coach Mark McLamb said. "We were dealt a tough hand this week with a lot of sickness, injuries and several kids that could not compete due to breaking team policies. A lot of the kids stepped up today and helped us out."

James Kenan, led by TJ Fullwood and N.C. State commit Marcelias Sutton, captured third place with 72 points. Sampson Bradsher grabbed the discus and shot put crowns for Hobbton, which took fourth place with 64 points. Neuse Charter (40 points), Spring Creek (35) and North Duplin (12) rounded out the eight-team field.