GRANITEQUARRY — West Rowan’s Natalie Jones surged toward the finish line with a sense of disappointment, frustrated that she couldn’t catch any of the two South Rowan runners in front of her.
Falcon coach Kent Houghton was simply happy to see his fifth and final scoring runner coming his way.
WestRowan survived a South Rowan scare and took first place in Tuesday’s County Meet with a total of 35 points, eight better than the Raiders.
After South sisters Kerianne and Beth-Erin Springer crossed the line in ninth and 10th, both teams had accumulated 24 points with one runner left to score.
But close behind came Jones, who finished 21 seconds later to clinch the win.
“I didn’t know where their fifth was, but I knew we were bunched up good,” Houghton said. “They ran us a lot better than I was expecting.”
So what was his reaction when he saw Jones approaching? “Very relieved,” Houghton said.
South made the meet close by placing four runners in the top 10, including individual winner Katie Willett.
Willett crossed the line with a time of 19:45, which was more than a minute ahead of second-place finisher Anna Griffis of Salisbury.
Willett, a junior, led the race wire-to-wire.
“All season I’ve been training with (boys coach Dwayne) Fink and the guys, so they set higher standards for me in practice,”Willett said. “I guess out here it’s a lot easier for me.”
Willett didn’t act like it was an easy task. After the race she went over to lean on an outdated barn behind the finish line.
By the time she turned around with a smile on her face, Griffis and West’s Allison Moore were nearing the line.
Moore took third overall with a time of 21:06 — the second best time of her career — to lead the Falcons.
“I felt I could have done better,” Moore said. “We got first, that’s all that matters.”
West Rowan flooded the finish line soon after Moore crossed it. Emily Wallace, Callie Houghton and Ashley Haithcock took sixth, seventh and eighth with only12 seconds separating them.
The Springers followed next, but Jones was right on their tails, even if she didn’t make the pass.
“I know I was right there at them, but I really wanted to be up there with them,”Jones said. “Today was just a rough day for me.”
But not for the Falcons.
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Contact Bret Strelow at 707-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com
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