Rebels' Thurston takes 1st at Carolina 1A XC meet

By Brandon Davis
Published in Sports on September 2, 2015 1:48 PM

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bdavis@newsargus.com

Spectators, family, and classmates cheered as Haley Thurston crossed the finish line first with no one near her Tuesday afternoon.

The North Duplin junior finished first during the Carolina 1-A Conference girls' cross country race in 22 minutes, 5 seconds at Waynesborough Park.

"It was rough. It was a long course," said Thurston as she placed her hands on her knees to calm her breathing. Her mind was focused on one thing -- water.

Carlos Bravo, head coach at North Duplin, stood at the final turn of the race, urging his team to finish strong. He quickly spoke of Thurston when asked about his team's performance.

"She did pretty good," said Bravo, whose team scored 53 points.

Rebecca Fitzmaurice of Rosewood finished fifth overall in 24:02. The third-year runner complimented the course, but said the heat was an issue.

"It was really hot, but it is a nice course," Fitzmaurice said.

She added that she felt pressure from other runners as they gained space behind her, but she endured the heat and the pressure.

Rosewood's Elaina Amy (23:24) and Alex Hill (24:13) placed third and sixth, respectively. The Eagles won the meet with 38 points.

The boy's race held just as much excitement.

Levi Miller of Spring Creek High finished fourth overall with a time of 19:18. Standing in the shade, Miller said it was a good race, but he "started out too fast and they were passing me."

Miller's coach, Heath Whitfield, was pleased with his team.

"Everybody made it," he said.

He was very pleased with Miller as the coach stood closely by him, waiting to watch the girl's race. Spring Creek's boys scored 91 points.

Jose Marino of Princeton finished with a time of 19:35. His coach, Mark McLamb, was pleased with Marino's effort. However, McLamb said his number one runner, Austin Sullivan (22:37), has a stress fracture which caused him to jog on the course.

Princeton's boys scored 84 points.

Dalton Farmer (18:41) of Rosewood finished second behind Abraheem Alwahishi (18:28) of Hobbton. Rosewood's boys scored 53 points.