South Lenoir sweeps boys and girls cross country team titles at East Duplin

BEULAVILLE — South Lenoir controlled both sides of a three-team cross country meet with East Duplin and Clinton, winning the boys and girls team competitions behind strong performances at the front of each race.

The Blue Devils were especially dominant in the boys 5,000-meter race, taking the first seven spots overall and finishing with a perfect team score of 15.

Senior Wesley Vernon led South Lenoir across the line, winning the race in 19 minutes, 12 seconds. Jack Rouse followed in second at 19:25, while Yael Ramirez-Rico placed third in 19:46.

Carlos Marte Burgos finished fourth in 20:57 and Silas Rigsbee rounded out South Lenoir’s five scoring runners with a fifth-place finish in 21:40.

Cale Roberts and Adam Garcia followed in sixth and seventh, respectively, giving South Lenoir a clean sweep of the top seven positions.

South Lenoir’s top five combined for a total time of 1:41:00 and an average of 20:12. The Blue Devils had a 2:28 gap between their first and fifth scoring runners.

East Duplin finished second in the boys team standings with 50 points. Clinton had runners in the race but did not record a team score.

South Lenoir also came away with the girls team championship, scoring 31 points to finish ahead of Clinton’s 45 and East Duplin’s 50.

Senior Alexa Haro led the way with an individual victory, completing the 5K course in 24:28.

South Lenoir teammate Valeria Ramos Gutierrez was close behind in second at 24:52, giving the Blue Devils the top two finishers in the girls race.

Evelyn Garcia added a fifth-place finish in 27:03. Valerie Valdivia placed 11th in 31:12, and Kadence Thigpen finished 12th in 31:12.50 to complete South Lenoir’s five scoring positions.

Chelsea Gutierrez finished 13th in 32:17, while Joanna Prybylinski placed 21st in 36:52.

South Lenoir’s five scoring runners combined for a total time of 2:18:48 with an average of 27:45.50.

Clinton placed three runners inside the top nine in the girls race. Rubi Davila finished third in 25:56, Haley Matthis was fourth in 26:53 and Allyson Velazquez placed ninth in 30:54.

East Duplin was led by Zoe Bellamy, who finished sixth in 28:46. Madison Brooks followed in seventh at 30:17 and Cassandra Bellomy took eighth in 30:28.

With both team victories, South Lenoir put together a strong showing from top to bottom, highlighted by individual wins from Vernon and Haro and a dominant boys performance that claimed each of the first seven finishing spots.