DATE: Sunday, September 7, 1997 TAG: 9709070258 SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: FINAL SOURCE: BY JAY LIDINGTON, STAFF WRITER DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: 45 lines
Tallwood Junior Pam Edwards continued her dominance of area cross country, winning the B division girl's race Saturday at the Newport News Invitational.
An all-state performer last year, Edwards completed the 5K course at a sun-drenched Newport News Park in 18 minutes, 56 seconds, more than a minute faster than Manchester Freshman Jessica Light.
About 900 runners from 39 schools competed at the meet, one of the largest in the state.
Kellam High School claimed the B division team title by placing four girls in the top 20, including Junior Tamyra Stegeman, who finished third.
The Knights also finished third in the Boy's A division, placing three runners - Ralph Denton, Parry Klages and Jordan Sellers - in the top 20.
``We've been training hard,'' said Kellam Coach Bill Bernard. ``We didn't rest for this race.''
Kellam opted to compete in the Newport News Invitational rather than the Catholic High School meet Saturday at Mount Trashmore in order to familiarize his team with the flat, partially-wooded course that will be used this year in regionals, Bernard said.
Already looking forward to the post-season was Granby Senior Delano Harris, who finished third in the Boy's B division race with a 17-minute time. Harris was the top southside runner of the 152 participants in the race.
Disappointed with his race, Harris fiddled with his bronze-colored medal while blaming a fast start that left him winded by race's end.
``I was going to come out here and stay up in the pack and run my race,'' Harris said. ``When I went out too fast, it took a lot of my energy out.''
With a few corrections, Harris said he is confident that a region title awaits him at the end of the season.
``It's so early. I'm not worried. I'm conditioned and I'm ready to run. Once I get there, I'll be ready,'' he said.
Lakeland's Andy Franklin finished fourth in the B division race with a time of 17 minutes, 3 seconds. Brian Walsh of Great Bridge was the only other Southside runner to finish in the top 10 with a time of 17 minutes, 22.1 seconds.
Princess Anne Junior Kevin Rhue, a sixth-place finisher in the Boy's A division, was the highest Southside finisher in the race.
He set a personal goal to equal his record of 16:48. He finished in 16:39.
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