New Catawba coach BillHaggerty has announced that Houghton has signed a letter of intent. He added that two East Rowan runners and another from West Stanly will be on the Catawba team next fall.

“We’re excited about getting him,” Haggerty said of Houghton. “He’s been one of the best runners in the county for several years. Catawba put a good package together for him both academic and cross country.”

Houghton missed making all-Rowan County by one spot as a freshman in 1996, when he finished eighth. He made all-county the next three years by placing second as a sophomore, fifth as a junior and second again last fall.

Houghton was more successful in track than cross country, capturing titles in the 1600 in the county meet as both a junior and senior. He had a great senior meet, winning the 1600 in 4:53.90, the 800 in 2:03.28 and placing fourth in the 3200 in 10:55.69 to help the Falcons win their first county title since 1981. He was selected Most Valuable Participant in distance events.

“He’s got a runner’s body (6-foot-1, 150 pounds), and he’s also got some speed,” said Haggerty. “As he gets a little bit bigger and stronger, I believe he can be one of our better runners.”

Houghton, whose best career times are 2:02.30 in the 800, 4:41.09 in the 1600 and 10:27.0 in the 3200, is excited about running for Catawba.

“It’s a school I’ve wanted to go to since I’ve been real young, being the local school. I’m hoping for good things. I’m hoping we can be conference champions in a few years possibly. I expect a good team and a good coach and a lot of support from the team,” he said.

Houghton will be moving up to the college distance of 8 kilometers, approximately 5 miles.

“I’ve run it pretty competitively on my own with some pretty good times. My best time is probably about 28:30. I just want to train and hopefully get it down to a real good time. If I’m competitive, that will bring my time down,” he said.

Josh is the son of Mr. and Mrs. KentHoughton, 445 Bernhardt Rd., Salisbury.

Haggerty, in his first year as Catawba’s cross country coach, is excited about adding four area runners, including three from the county, to his team for the 2000 season.

“Josh Vess and Steven Stamper both ran in a good cross country program at East. Josh signed a letter of intent. Because of Vess coming, Stamper wanted to come, too. Stamper got a real good academic package. He graduated with honors,” said the Catawba coach.

Vess is the son of Mr. and Mrs. David P. Vess, 870 Gold Hill Ave., Rockwell, and Stamper is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael D. Stamper, 1325 Balfour Quarry Rd., Salisbury.

The West Stanly runner is Chad Horn, who had times of about 4:50 for the 1600 and approximately 16:50 in cross country.