Hunt junior Mason Gesell finished second in the boys race Wednesday, Sept. 25, at the 3-A Quad County Conference meet at Bryan Sports Complex in Goldsboro. Jerry Bunn | Special to the Times
GOLDSBORO — With three runners finishing in the top 7, Hunt High won the boys meet Wednesday, Sept. 25, at the third 3-A Quad County Conference cross-country meet of the season.
Junior Mason Gesell posted a personal-best time of 19 minutes, 2 seconds as he finished second overall to set the pace for Hunt at Bryan Sports Complex. Junior Christian Hall was fifth in 19:47 while freshman Landen Johnson came in seventh in 20:10. Also contributing to the Warriors’ winning 49-point total were junior Tristan Hall (17th, 22:09) and sophomore John Mauze, who also set a personal record of 22:12 in finishing 19th out of 56 runners.
Hunt head coach Rusty Boyette noted that the course was extremely soggy from recent rainfall and the 2-A Neuse 6 Conference also held its weekly meet Wednesday at Bryan Sports Complex.
“It had its challenges,” Boyette said. “With the weather that we have had recently, I was not sure how the team would respond. The boys rose to the challenge and ran hard. I am proud of all of them. We should be in contention for top spots at the conference championship.”
East Wake was second in the boys points totals with 69, followed by South Johnston (71), West Johnston (83), Southern Wayne (101), Fike (148) and C.B. Aycock. The Golden Demons were paced by junior Riley Crysell, who came in 14th in 21:46. CBA’s top finisher was sophomore James Melton in 16th place in 22:05.
Southern Wayne’s Gage Brewer was the first runner to cross the finish line, coming in at 18:31.
Hunt’s Ava Johnson, left, and Cassie Bunn, right, run Wednesday, Sept. 25, at the 3-A Quad County Conference meet at Bryan Sports Complex in Goldsboro. Jerry Bunn | Special to the Times
Hunt sophomore Brooklyn Thoms also posted a personal-record time of 22:30 in finishing second overall in the 5K girls meet, just four seconds behind winner Lis Santiago of South Johnston.
“Brooklyn battled hard yesterday and is in a great spot to challenge for the individual conference championship as well as the county championship,” Boyette said.
The Hunt girls took third as there were only six teams with enough runners to post a team score. West Johnston was the girls team winner with 38 points, followed by East Wake (43), Hunt (82), Fike (89), South Johnston (134) and CBA (156).
The Warriors also got points from sophomore Ava Johnson (19th, 26:49), freshman Cassie Bunn (20th, 26:55) and freshman Lacey Boyles (22nd, 27:05), who also set a PR.
Fike’s top finisher was senior Tierney Powers (11th, 25:05) while junior Kate Kopka (12th, 25:11) was right behind her. Sophomore Gracie Mercer (16th, 25:55), Faith Criswell (24th, 27:49) and Aryanna Darnes (29th, 29:41) rounded out the Golden Demons scorers.
Isabella Fernandez (27th, 29:24) led the pack for C.B. Aycock.
The next QCC meet is Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Smithfield-Selma.
Balkcum sets pace for Bruins
GOLDSBORO — As the sole representative for the Beddingfield High girls cross-country team, senior Rebecca Balkcum placed seventh out of 27 runners Wednesday at the 2-A Neuse 6 Conference meet at Bryan Sports Complex. Balkcum, who battled a leg injury during track and soccer seasons last spring, finished the 5K course in 31:57.
Goldsboro’s Yaritza Delgado was the winner of the girls race in 24:49.
In the boys race, Beddingfield’s lone runner, Keontae Allen, was 16th out 22 runners with a time of 32:33. North Johnston had just three runners competing with Jacob Talton leading the Panthers by finishing seventh in 24:58.
Caleb Loftin led a quintet of Spring Creek runners across the finish line first, finishing in 20:07.
The Neuse 6 will return to Bryan Sports Complex next Wednesday for the fourth league get-together.
WCA stays dry, prepares for busy stretch
Wilson Christian was set to host two meets this week, including its fifth annual By the Moon’s Light night race on Friday. But with rain in the forecast Friday and a wet course already, WCA head coach Dwight Vanderboegh opted to postpone both and squeeze in what he called a “very profitable” week of practice.
Instead, the By the Moon’s Light will run next Friday night, Oct. 4, and the following Monday, Oct. 7, the Wilson County Cross-Country Championships will be hosted by Wilson Christian.
Finally, the true sign of fall, the Pumpkin Run, returns for a 10th year at WCA on Thursday, Oct. 10.
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