Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 24 UCW NOVEMBER 6-12 2019 HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS Watching South View win a conference title in boys cross country had become routine for Cape Fear's Matthew Hanes. In his 16th year at Cape Fear High School, his 14th coaching boys cross country, Hanes was all too familiar with the Tigers' 21-year dominance of the sport locally. But from the earliest days of summer practice this year, Hanes told his team that this season would mark the best window of opportunity the Colts ever had of taking the trophy away from South View. "At the end of last season, we were as close as we ever were to taking them down,'' he said. "I said the opportunity is here for the taking if you want it bad enough.'' Apparently, the Colts did, as they finally ended the South View victory streak and captured the Patriot Athletic Conference cross country meet on South View's own course last month. Building a successful cross country program at Cape Fear has been anything but easy for Hanes. His first season he had a total of nine runners, boys and girls, competing. "It's hard to get children to run that many miles when it's 100 degrees outside,'' he said. "You have to tell them the truth.'' When the Colts won every regular-season duel with South View this season, it gave Hanes confidence. But he still had doubts as South View sought to make it 22 straight titles while running on its homes course. Hanes counted on a strong showing by his top runner, Jonathan Piland, and he got it as the veteran placed second with a time of 17:04.40. The key piece of the championship puzzle for Cape Fear was newcomer Julius Ferguson. He placed third while Juan Alvarado ran fifth to give Cape Fear its third runner in the top five. Other Colts in the top 20 were Collin Gaddy 10th, Alden Bostic 13th and Colton Danks 20th. Piland said the South View course offered extra challenges in the meet. "With the rain, it made quite a muddy experi- ence,'' Piland said. "Otherwise it was an excel- lent course. They've always done a good job of designing it and keeping it well maintained.'' Cape Fear's team strategy of sticking together and staying ahead of the South View pack worked. "Our top seven runners made all- conference,'' Piland said. "I would say that was a pretty big accomplishment.'' The Colts are optimistic about qualifying for the Nov. 9 state meet at Ivey M. Redmon Park in Kernersville. "We have so many that are committed run- ners,'' Piland said. "We've won invitational meets and meets that in previous years we never fig- ured to place in. I think we have a great shot at states this year.'' Colts end South View cross country dominance by EARL VAUGHAN JR. From L-R: Tariq Hussein, Collin Gaddy, Alden Bostic, Jonathan Piland, Caleb Knudsen, Colton Danks, Seth Thomas, Mr. Brian Edkins. Front: Coach Matthew Hanes, Julius Ferguson, Juan Alvarado. Missing from the picture is Noah Lucas. EARL VAUGHAN JR., Sports Editor. COMMENTS? EarlUCWSports@gmail. com. 910-364-6638. Lack of experience no handicap for LeComte by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Amber LeComte is finishing her first year coaching girls cross country at Terry Sanford High School, and she's already given herself a higher bar to clear next season. LeComte, who had no previous experience coaching the sport when she took over at her alma mater this season, guided the Bulldogs to victory in the Patriot Athletic Conference cross country meet and saw sophomore Rainger Pratt take home the individual championship. A softball player during her days at Terry Sanford, LeComte said the biggest challenge she faced taking over cross country was learning how to train the team to succeed in competitive running. She reached out to other coaches for advice and also got input from the runners on her team, includ- ing Pratt. Pratt, a sophomore who has been running cross country since the age of seven, said the team was a little bit concerned about LeComte's lack of coaching experience but felt she was open to working with them. "We kind of taught her ways that made us better runners,'' Pratt said. "We definitely worked together and meshed more as we got closer.'' Although Terry Sanford did well in the regular sea- son, winning all three in-season conference meets while also competing in a variety of invitationals, LeComte still wasn't feeling terribly confident when it came time for the conference meet. "I did not feel like the favorite,'' she said. "South View has a very large team, a lot of people. The more people you have running in these meets, the more likely you are to get points based on performance.'' Terry Sanford only had six runners competing in the conference meet. "We needed at least four or five of our girls to fin- ish in the top 20 to get the points,'' LeComte said. Pratt won with a time of 20:21.90 to edge second- place Iris Terwilliger of Cape Fear. Emma Morgan placed 10th for the Bulldogs with a time of 22:20.60. The Bulldogs then swept the final three spots in the top 20 with Brinlee Risenmay, Marissa Morris and Kaitlyn Wayne crossing the fin- ish line in order at 18th, 19th and 20th. The Bulldogs actually tied Pine Forest in team points with 65 each, but the Bulldogs got the champi- onship when their sixth runner, Jasmin Singh, edged the next Pine Forest runner by less than seven seconds to clinch the victory. LeComte knew Pratt was going to take the individual title when she saw the look on her face as the came around the track on the South View football field near the end of the race. "I knew she was going to blow them out of the water,'' LeComte said. Pratt ran the South View course a lot during her freshman season with the Bulldogs and felt com- fortable with it. "There's a woods part and some short down- hills,'' Pratt said. "I used that and the curves to my advantage.'' Pratt qualified for the state meet last year and feels she's got a good chance again this season. To get to the state meet, she had to place high enough in the regionals, which were held prior to the publication of this article on Saturday, Nov. 2, at Northwood High School near Pittsboro. The state meet is on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Ivey M. Redmon Park in Kernersville. "I usually run really well at regionals,'' Pratt said. "As a team, I think we can do really well." From L-R: Brinlee Risenmay, Emma Morgan, Evan Mason (head boys coach), Rainger Pratt, Kaitlyn Wayne, Jasmin Singh Amber LeComte