Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

Landrum doubles its fun in Class A sweep

Cardinals boys defend their title; girls join in with championship of their own

Landrum coach Jeremy Darby could not have been happier with the performances of his boys and girls cross country teams Saturday at Sandhills Research Park.

The boys team placed six runners among the top 15 to successfully defend its Class A title.

The girls, running in the 2A/A meet, placed five in the top 15 to give the school a championship sweep.

"We set our standards high," Darby said. "After winning the boys title and the girls getting runner-up last year, we decided we wanted both of them to win this year. We made that our goal all season long, and it's paid off."

Cody Ridley was the top performer for the boys team with a fourth-place finish of 17 minutes, 4.71 seconds. J.J. Carruth finished seventh (17:36.12), and Kenneth Human was ninth (17:43.74). Seth Kemp, J.R. Jackson and Mick Prather finished 11th, 12th and 14th, respectively.

North Central's Chad Hampton won the boys race in 17:00.90.

Samantha Walters led the way for the Landrum girls, finishing second in 19:13.08. Sarah Cash was fourth in 19:52.66. Lauren Pitts, Ciera Belue and Elizabeth Walter finished 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively.

Bishop England's Jeanne Stroud won in 18:32.87.

Darby was not surprised by his team's dominance.

"In the team I ran for (when he was young), the girls ran when the boys ran," he said. "When we do workouts, I don't say, 'this is the girls workout' and 'this is the boys workout.' It pays off to run them together. Their times are going to be a little slower than the boys, but they can carry the same workload as the boys can."

The Cardinals finished with 43 points in the 17-team boys field. Christ Church was second with 82 points, while Academic Magnet and Ninety Six tied for third with 133.

The Landrum girls finished with 42 points. Pendleton was second with 133, followed by Pelion with 155.

In the 2A boys race, Bishop England scored 56 points to edge Liberty and repeat as champion. The Bishops defended their title despite significant losses to graduation.

"We figured coming into this season that it would be a rebuilding year," Bishop England boys coach Jeremy Colizzi said. "They really stepped it up. It was amazing."

Nathan Leach led the team with a third-place effort, clocking in at 16:57.69.

Chesnee's Austin High won the 2A boys race in 16:42.15.

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