WCTFC: Talent-rich Eastern Wayne girls seize team crown

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 12, 2016 1:48 PM

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The clerk of court shouted "Lane 5, Natasha Johnson, Eastern Wayne."

The senior walked over, stretched and listened to the starter's commands. She did a little shoulder shake that relaxed her as it rippled through her body.

Johnson settled into the blocks and took her mark.

To her left, in lane four, was her main competition -- Southern Wayne senior Cierra Thompson. Johnson had won their previous encounter during a conference meet earlier this season.

When the gun popped, Johnson exploded. A mere 12.27 seconds later, she emerged as the 100-meter dash champion in the 2016 installment of the Wayne County Track and Field Championships on Monday afternoon.

"The first time (against Cierra), I had kind of an off start. I think the second time, I got a good push out the blocks," Johnson said. "So far, that is my best (time). The Lord let me do this today because I hadn't been running like I really should. He definitely look upon me today.

"County champion? That sounds very good.

Johnson claimed the 200 and long jump crowns, and anchored the meeting-winning 4x1 relay as the Warriors claimed the WCTFC title -- pardon the pun -- in runaway fashion. Eastern Wayne dethroned three-time reigning champion Charles B. Aycock 185-122.

Southern Wayne secured third place in the team competition with 90 points. Rosewood scored 75, followed by Wayne Country Day (30), Goldsboro High (24), Spring Creek (9) and Wayne Christian (4).

The Warriors' Amari Brigman (shot put) and Dymond Atkinson (discus) pulled off solid wins in the field events. Teammate Fiona Pedrick grabbed three county titles -- the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 runs.

"I knew that I had a good chance to score a lot of points today for my team, so that was the goal ... really wanted to run solid races, keep them consistent and strong and really focus on position today," said Pedrick, who has officially accepted to attend Occidental College next fall.

"I think I ran a pretty good 800. I normally tend to focus on the mile (1,600) and 32, so it's always fun to run half the distance and fun to focus on speed instead of strength, endurance and pacing," Pedrick said.

Eastern Wayne and CBA combined to win 14 of the 15 contested events. There were no entries for the pole vault event.

The Golden Falcons' Cyerra Carter secured county titles in the triple and high jump. Kassandra Sandoval won the 110 hurdles, while Taylor Daniels bested the field in the 400.

Aycock won the 3,200 relay in 12 minutes, 25 second with the foursome of Mackenzie Stewart, Sarah Gregory, Natalia Garcia and Tara Price. Later in the day, Daniels -- along with Brianna Bryant, Carter and Arlanda Faulkner -- helped guide the Golden Falcons to the 4x2 relay championship.

Southern Wayne's quartet of Thompson, Nadia Chesnutt, Keyniya Brown and Machiah Moore ended the 4 1/2-hour meet with a victory in the 4x4 relay.