ECC cross country

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on October 20, 2011 1:49 PM

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South Johnston's talented duo finished just one second apart.

That is exactly what Trojans head coach Joe Loia wanted to see.

Katie Hodges won the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference girls' cross country individual championship on Wednesday at Waynesborough Park. Hodges finished the course in 22 minutes and 31 seconds. Teammate Dava McLamb was just one step -- and one second behind.

The feat was amazing considering the pair are the only two girls on the Trojans' cross country team.

"They are both very talented and they both deserve to finish exactly where they did," said Loia. "Dava has been a little under the weather, but she gave it all she had today. Katie is all talent, meaning she is just a natural runner."

Triton won the girls' team title with 36 points. The Hawks went undefeated in conference action for the second consecutive season. C.B. Aycock took second with 50 points. Eastern Wayne finished third with 60 points and Cleveland rounded out the team standings with 89 points.

North Lenoir and Southern Wayne did not have enough runners to record a team total.

Cheyenne Warrick paced the Golden Falcons in third place overall with a time of 23:11. Chloee Lamb ran 12th in 24:34 seconds.

"I was really pleased with how well our girls ran today," said C.B. Aycock head coach Sheila Covar. "We had a couple of personal-best times and we showed pretty well for ourselves."

Cristella Rochel led Eastern Wayne with a sixth-place finish in 24:05. Ashley Aimes ran 10th in 24:20 seconds and Morgan Exum finished four seconds behind her teammate in 11th.

Madison Hines ran fifth to lead North Lenoir in 24:01.

Sharrone Maultsby paced Southern Wayne with a 23rd-place time of 26:40.

On the boys' side of the ledger, the teams from outside Wayne County dominated.

South Johnston won the team crown with 25 points. Triton finished with 51 points for second place and Cleveland finished third with 73 points. C.B. Aycock (110), Eastern Wayne (131) and North Lenoir (133) rounded out the team standings.

Southern Wayne did not have enough runners to record a team score.

"We have four seniors that have run for four years and it showed today," said Loia. "Our top five are four seniors and a junior, and they have put in the work it takes to win these meets."

Cleveland's Jarrett Hayes crossed the finish line first individually in a time of 17:40 seconds. South Johnston's Nathan Raynor and Cirillo Perez finished second and third, respectively.

Warren Kirkwood led Eastern Wayne with a sixth-place finish in 18:49.

Marvin Alexander finished 13th overall in 20:03 to lead C.B. Aycock. Austin Walker finished 15th just three seconds behind his teammate.

Jacqui Gillette paced North Lenoir in 20:48 seconds, which was good enough for 20th overall. Jim Barber led Southern Wayne in 41st place with a time of 28:19.

The teams return to action in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A east regional in Wilson on Oct. 29.