Princeton's Aguillon, North Duplin's Thurston take top spots ... again

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

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

SEVEN SPRINGS -- Spring Creek senior Allen Coor had heard his dad mention seeing Princeton's cross country team train on long winding roads while traveling for his job.

He saw it again first-hand Tuesday afternoon.

The Bulldogs displayed that work ethic with another dominating performance, placing five runners among the top eight during a Carolina 1-A Conference cross country meet at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park. Behind individual champ Jose Aguillon, Princeton logged 19 points -- 19 better than archrival Rosewood, which had three runners finish among the top nine.

Hobbton and Lakewood concluded the team chase with 89 and 105 points, respectively. Neither North Duplin, Spring Creek nor Neuse Charter had enough runners to compile a team score.

On the girls' side, North Duplin sophomore Haley Thurston claimed the top spot with a time of 23 minutes, 50 seconds.

Princeton, which had four runners among the top 10, edged Hobbton 37-45. Rosewood took third with 72 points, followed by North Duplin (76) and Lakewood (123).

Unlike a week ago, Coor decided to remain toward the middle of the lead pack once the 5k race started.

"I tried to do something a little different than the last race when I tried to get in front of everybody and stay the same pace," Coor said. "Today, I stayed back a little bit, tried to work my up and sprinted toward the end."

Aguillon crossed the line in 18:46.

About half a minute later, Coor and Princeton's Austin Sullivan became involved in a spirited finish. Coor used one last kick to nip Sullivan by one second -- 19:15 to 19:16 -- at the stripe.

"I probably wasn't in the best shape (last week) and I got a cramp, was barely able to breathe," Coor said. "Being at my home park, you have to run a little better, too. I know every turn."

Rosewood's Dalton Farmer secured fourth in 19:25 -- a significant improvement over last week's 10th-place showing on his home course. Princeton's Hunter Mitchell and Jose Moreno seized fifth and sixth, respectively.

Jacob Johnson complemented Farmer with a seventh-place time of 20:28. Princeton's Brent Hurst and Rosewood's Kody Silknitter (22:18) wound up eighth and ninth, respectively.

Neuse's Maurice Watson ended up 10th.

Thurston exited the woods on the first lap with plenty of room to spare, but she could hear the faint footsteps of Princeton's Altheia Balagio and Lakewood's Jessica Espinoza.

"I heard those girls behind me and knew I had some competition there, so I wanted to push it as hard as I could," Thurston said. "This was a hard course, the hardest one that we run ... all these hills, roots you can trip over and it's just very steep."

Balagio and Espinoza each posted a time of 24:35. Hobbton's Ashley Hinterletter was fourth in 24:43, followed by Rosewood's Elaina Amy (24:45).

Princeton's Megan Evans and Chelsea Hawley grabbed sixth and eighth, respectively. The Eagles' Rebecca Fitzmaurice secured seventh place.