THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 27, 1995 TAG: 9510270689
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
As expected, Great Bridge easily claimed the boys and girls team titles at the Southeastern District cross country meet Thursday, but Western Branch's Billy McGlaughon surprised everyone by beating top-ranked Eric Adams with a personal best time of 15:38 to claim the boys individual title on the 3.1-mile course at Churchland High School.
Adams, Great Bridge's No. 1 runner, came into the meet undefeated in the district.
``It was an upset. But I'm not upset. I really wasn't training for this race,'' said Adams, who has his sights set on the state tournament and little else. ``Billy ran a good race. He did the right thing, he let me do most of the work.''
McGlaughon drafted off Adams for the first two miles of the race before making his move. He broke out to a 15 meter lead with less than half a mile to go and Adams never threatened again, finishing 23 seconds off McGlaughon's pace.
``I figured I should just run and do my best, and that was all I could ask for. I didn't really have much of a plan,'' said McGlaughon. ``I thought (Adams) was going to pull out any second and blow me away.''
Erik Cooper notched a time of 16:06 to finish third for the Wildcats, who placed five of their runners in the top eight.
In the girls race, Wildcats' sophomore Tracy O'Neal improved upon last year's runner-up finish to take first with a time of 18:55. Great Bridge placed six of its runners in the top 13 to handily defeat runner-up Western Branch 25-65.
``They changed the course this year so it's longer, but I felt like I ran a good race,'' said O'Neal, who outdistanced teammate Michelle Nicolay by nearly 1:30.
Angela Cusick finished third in 20:39 to pace Western Branch. With two of their top three runners out because of injury, the Bruins only managed to field a complete team with the addition of Darrah Fox, who finished 33rd despite not running for two months because of an injury herself.
``I'm really proud of how they did, especially to come up with the fifth runner,'' said Western Branch coach Bill Volkman.
The top four teams and 15 runners advanced to the Eastern Region competition next Thursday. ILLUSTRATION: L. TODD SPENCER
Runners compete in Thursday's Southeastern District cross country
meet.
by CNB