Runners prepare for the start of the season-opening, Neuse Six 2A Conference meet held Wednesday afternoon at North Johnston High School. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Spring Creek junior Caleb Loftin emerged as the top finisher among the boys Wednesday afternoon. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Spring Creek senior Maria Melchor placed fifth overall among the girls at North Johnston on Wednesday afternoon. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
KENLY — Caleb Loftin had no intention of being “the rabbit” Wednesday afternoon.
But once the Spring Creek junior established a comfortable pace and adjusted to an “unbalanced course,” he emerged victorious in the season-opening, Neuse Six 2A cross country meet.
Lofton broke the tape in 20 minutes, 48 seconds — one second ahead of Princeton freshman Jackson Creech.
“Honestly, I kind of wanted someone else to set the pace,” Loftin smiled. “I didn’t realize I would be that good out of the gate. I feel like I pushed a little too hard on my first one [lap], so I’ll learn from that next time.”
An avid go-kart driver, Lofton relied on a mental approach.
“I really did better than I thought I would. I’m proud of myself,” he said. “I feel like the mental side is the most important thing when it comes to running and racing in general. You learn how much it takes to push yourself.”
The 3.12-mile course required three loops around the perimeter of North Johnston High School. Runners encountered slight hills, steamy concrete despite comfortable temperatures and encountered little shade.
Spring Creek’s trio of junior Joshua Lewis (23:00), Adonis Hackett (24:08) and Carter McClelland (24:17) completed the top five. Teammates John Gonzalez took seventh in 25:28, while Alex Hemmingway ended up eighth in 25:58.
The quintet helped the reigning Neuse Six 2A champions post 19 points – their best outing since head Ian Combest took over the program.
Princeton tallied 43 points.
Sipping on a bottle of water in the shade, SC senior Maria Lopez admitted the heat bothered her a little bit.
The Virginia native wound up fifth.
“Over there by the bus area [parking lot], it got a little hot, so I had to slow down, but towards the end, I picked it back up,” said Melchor, a native of the tidewater Virginia area who moved to the Old North State in 2021.
“I wanted to get the feel of it … test it out, see how to progress from there. When you have to do three loops around the same course, that’s kind of tough because it’s not like the Bryan Complex [SC’s home course]. You have to prepare yourself for three laps … not go too fast, but not too slow.”
The Gators’ Colette Crespo ended up eighth in 34:26. Teammates Destinie Wilson (36:58), Vanessa Flores (38:47) and Maliah Torres (39:26) each finished among the top 15.
North Johnston senior Haley Epps emerged victorious in 23:13. Goldsboro’s junior combo of Yaritza Delgado (25:18) and Leah Lawhorne (27:22) took second and fourth, respectively.
Princeton’s Kaylon Braswell claimed third in 26 minutes.
Goldsboro defeated Spring Creek 20-35 in the team portion of the meet. Neither North Johnston or Princeton fielded the minimum five runners to post a team score.
The next Neuse Six 2A meet is Sept. 18 at Beddingfield.
You may reach sports writer Rudy Coggins at prepswriter2@gmail.com or call/text 919-709-9257.
