PREP CROSS COUNTRY: Chargers' Bauer, Eagles' Court each claim individual win

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on August 21, 2018 5:51 AM

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By RUDY COGGINS

rcoggins@newsargus.com

His hair soaked with sweat and his legs covered in mud, Connor Bauer handed his runner's card to the official scorer.

He humbly accepted their congratulations, turned and walked toward the water cooler.

"It's killer out there," Bauer said.

No doubt.

But the Wayne Country Day junior made it almost look too easy.

Using long strides as he sludged through the mucky 5k course, Bauer posted a meet-winning time of 20 minutes, 14 seconds during Monday afternoon's season-opening meet at WCDS.

Overnight weekend storms dumped heavy rain on the already-soaked hilly, rocky cross country trail. The shadier parts of the course provided some relief from the hot, bright sun.

And unlike his competitors, Bauer seemed to have plenty left in the tank.

He sprinted to the finish line.

"With the mud, you can't tell how deep it is at some points. It can be a struggle," Bauer said. "I'm just glad I could push through, not have to slow down."

"I feel amazing ... great."

The Chargers, who had six runners finish among the top 11, claimed the team portion of the meet with 29 points. Wilson Christian was second with 60 points, followed by Friendship Christian (63), Ridgecroft (125) and Faith Christian-Goldsboro (165).

Avery Best took fifth for WCDS with a time of 21:19, while Cooper Edmondson crossed the line sixth in 21:20. Brandon Talton (8th, 22:43) and Cairns Edmondson (9th, 22:45) rounded out the Chargers' team score.

A returning state qualifier, Eli Winders paced Wayne Christian with a fourth-place effort of 21:14.

Faith Christian's top runner, as expected, was Hayden Voeller. He claimed 14th in 23:48.

"Tiring ... hot," Voeller said. "I [usually] sprint the first mile and after that, I keep my pace. I had a pretty good race."

As did Paige Court.

Glad the meet didn't get canceled, the Wayne Christian standout emerged victorious in the girls' portion of the race with a time of 25:14 -- 1:14 faster than her nearest competitor, runner-up Ocean Reece of Wilson Christian.

Court prefers the shady WCDS course.

She didn't mind the conditions, either.

"I don't really care if it's muddy or not," said Court, the reigning Coastal Plains Independent Conference champion.

"I thought it went pretty good. I didn't think I would do as well since it was the first race of the season. This is probably one of my favorite courses, mainly because of the shade."

WCDS -- behind the trio of Gray Young, Danielle Johnson and Anne Stuart Freemon -- secured the team win with 40 points. Wilson Christian ended up three points back. Wayne Christian tallied 84 points.

A total of eight seconds separated Young, Johnson and Freemon, who took positions three through five, respectively. Katherine Eltz finished 12th in 28:25. Kathryn Hamilton capped the team scoring with a 16th-place performance of 30:15.

Faith Christian's Brooke Finney and Bailey Voeller wound up 14th and 22nd, respectively. Finney logged a time of 29:22. Voeller was three minutes back in 32:30.

"Hot, humid, mud ... was definitely difficult, especially with this heat," fourth-year Faith head coach John Haggard said.

"I wanted to see them have some energy, pull out some decent numbers the first one [meet.] Our first few [runners] have been good today."