RED SPRINGS — Shortened. Delayed. Restrictive.
The last four weeks has been all of that.
On Wednesday, high school cross country’s regular season ended at Red Springs for West Bladen and East Bladen. The Lady Knights captured first place 32-36 in scoring for the best five finishers of each team, and Eagles’ senior A.J. Smith remained unbeaten winning the boys race.
For Bladen County athletics programs, it’s the first regular season completed since basketball due to the coronavirus. The N.C. High School Athletic Association was championship games short of completing basketball, and ended spring sports after just two weeks of competition.
“We have a good group of people,” said Lady Knights sophomore Kaden Thurman, a multi-sport athlete in her first season with the program. “We’re always motivating each other.”
Sophomore Lainey Autry’s third-place finish led West Bladen and Thurman was fifth. Tinyauh Rhoda, Violet Allen and Olivia Allen rounded out the scoring places finishing seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively. Azillyah McDonald was behind them in 10th.
Autry and Thurman each said they cut about 2 minutes off their times, and for Thurman it was 4 minutes less than her last trip around the 3.1-mile course. Autry was clocked in 25 minutes, 45 seconds. Thurman came in at 27:42, Rhoda 29:58, Violet Allen 30:21, Olivia Allen 32:43 and McDonald 33:24.
“I did better keeping my pace up,” Autry said. “Overall, this is my best run.”
Thus, the timing couldn’t have been better.
“For my first year running, this is fun,” said the Lady Knights tennis and basketball player. “Not many people say running is fun, but it is to me. I wanted to be able to show support for our school. That’s special for me.”
Thurman agreed on the fun part, and noted the safety precautions that were in place. Even those seemingly awkward were understood.
East Bladen sophomore Cate DeVane was fourth in 25:51, junior Aniya McKoy was 11th in 33:35 and junior Sydney Gardner was 12th in 35:06.
Red Springs’ Dayanara Tellez won the girls race in 25:15 and teammate Elora Oxendine was second in 25:42. The Lady Red Devils counted finishes of first, second, sixth, 13th and 14th to net their team score.
Smith was better than 2 minutes ahead of the boys field and the only sub-20. His 18:17 was his third-best this season. Red Springs’ Dylan Dean was second in 20:56 and teammate Christian Moore third in 21:20.
West Bladen’s Keegan Haraldson was fourth in 22:02, Bradley Taylor 10th in 25:08 and Jacob Bryan 11th in 27:13.
“I’m more than content with it,” Smith said. “I’m very thankful for how I performed — not disappointed in the least.”
He praised the Lady Eagles’ efforts, adding, “Everybody did the best with what they had.”
Haraldson, who ran at 4-A Wilmington Laney a year ago, said he had not had a good season. He ran a 17:22 for his best as a sophomore, but battled an injury the last two weeks.
“I plan to do better in track,” he said. “With the COVID, switching schools, there’s not as much structure as there was at a 4-A. We were close to each other. I’m getting to know a lot of my teammates here better.”
He even recruited one of them to the team.
With East Bladen and West Bladen not fielding five runners each, there were no team scores for the boys. Red Springs ran seven runners.
Unknown for the Three Rivers Conference as competitors departed for home is if there will be a championship. Red Springs head coach Glenn Patterson, his school’s assistant athletics director, and most others thought there would be but a league meeting left the decision in limbo.
Normally, the final meet would include every team in the conference and be labeled the conference championship. Top 10 for girls and boys each would be accorded all-conference. But this year, state association rules have prohibited more than three teams at a meet.
Patterson said he thought it was simple to score out the championship and all-conference using every individual’s best time. Coaches Brian McCleney of West Bladen and William Bolden of East Bladen were in favor. All three coaches specifically pointed to how well Smith had done for the Eagles.
As Patterson noted, “If we’re not going to have a championship in cross country, there shouldn’t be one for any other sport in the conference.”
An optional meet that would include the league’s runners qualified for the 2-A Mideast Regional is tentatively scheduled for January. The regional is Jan. 16, with the state championship the following Saturday.