NEWTON GROVE — West Bladen junior Demon’tre Love finished second at the SAC 6 Conference Championship on Wednesday evening.
Love ran the 5k in a time of 18:32 to secure the silver; this was his sixth straight race finishing in the top two. Clinton senior Christan Ortiz edged out Love in second to take individual gold with a time of 18:13. Ortiz and Love have been going head-to-head all year for the top two spots, while improving their time with each race.
Ortiz repeated for his second Conference title in a row and he will go into regionals with some added confidence. Fairmont senior Austin Locklear took bronze with a time of 19:05 to round-off the podium places. West Bladen’s Dylan Taylor and Bradley Yandle finished in the top 20 in the standings. Yandle ran a 16th place time of 22:02 and Taylor ran a 19th place time of 23:02.
West Bladen and the rest of the SAC 6 will compete in the NCHSAA 2A Mideast Regional on October 20th in Cary, NC.