Mooneyham gets unexpected lift

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on September 11, 2014 1:46 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- As Charles B. Aycock's Joseph Mooneyham emerged from the woods in fourth place and entered the first turn, he encountered the Golden Falcons football team, which was just finishing practice.

They stopped their calisthenics, and loudly clapped and cheered for Mooneyham to catch the runners in front of him.

Mooneyham caught all but one of the three runners in front of him and set a personal-best time of 20 minutes, 11 seconds -- good enough for second place during an Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference cross country meet Wednesday afternoon.

Aycock competed along with county rival Eastern Wayne, South Central and D.H. Conley.

"(The football team) made me feel really good, seeing that made me keep pushing," Mooneyham said. "But at the same time I know my pace and had to make sure I ran my race and I knew I'd end up catching most of them."

He almost caught them all, except for South Central's Jordan Tyson, who was the overall winner in 19:58. The Falcons took six of the first seven spots and collected 19 points, followed by Aycock (60), Eastern Wayne (66) and D.H. Conley (100).

Josh Bartz led Eastern Wayne with an eighth-place finish of 21:50.

On the girls' side, South Central twins Chloe and Claudia Cox took first and second overall. Aycock's Sarah Gregory finished third with a 26:50. Eastern Wayne's lone runner, Tricia Malcolm, placed 10th overall in 29:23.

South Central scored 27 points, followed by Conley (39) and Aycock (66).

The Golden Falcons' home course featured a woodsy trail and plenty of hills, making it more challenging than most courses. Times weren't where they normally are for the runners, but they were more focused on position anyway.

"Most people run slower times on this course because it's a little more technical, a little more challenging," CBA head coach Butch Bennett said.

PIcking the right time to pass with the narrow corridors back in the woods was a key for Mooneyham. He tried to pass as many people as he could during the portions of the race where he was out in open spaces.

"It's a lot of strategy and knowing when to pass," Mooneyham said. "Back in the woods it got kind of tough for me I had to kind of sneak by ... Coming around up (toward) the track is when I was able to pass a few more people."

Along with Mooneyham, Hunter Crane and Cameron Sims ran their personal bests on the home course, leaving coach Butch Bennett pleased overall.

"When you have your top three finishers setting personal bests that's how you know the kids are getting better, so that's a good thing to see," he said.