By Ryan Bisesi
rbisesi@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY – West Rowan’s Rebecca Parker remembered last year when she won the pre-county meet and surprised everybody in her first cross country race ever.
So when she won again Wednesday it wasn’t as much of a shock.
The junior Falcon jumped out to first after the first mile and dusted the field by over a minute in 21:26 at Dan Nicholas Park. She started off at the front of the pack and took control later on. Some new members of the team were worried about getting lost in the course. All they had to do was follow Parker.
“I gained the lead back in the woods before we came back around,” Parker said. “This course is my favorite.”
Her jubliation was met quickly with desperation after teammate Sammie Brassard collapsed shortly after finishing. After being tended to by coaches and teammates, Emergency personnel arrived and Brassard was taken off on a strecher. She was said to have suffered heat exhaustion.
“It was really scary after what happened on the first day of school,” Parker said. “It’s been really tough.”
Carson edged West in the team standings 42-46. The Cougars featured a runner up in sophomore Kenzy Bauer (22:41) and Talley Medina (eighth, 24:47) and Kylie Cox (ninth, 24:32).
“I’m really proud at some of the times considering how hot it was,” Carson coach Leslee Efird said. “We weren’t really looking at times today. It was more about positioning and picking people off.”
West’s Josie Helgar finished fourth in 23:25 and Hannah Allison was fifth in 23:39. East Rowan enjoyed a third-place run from Faith Blume (third, 22:43) and had Tori Gaul place seventh in 24:18. South Rowan’s Susannah Dixon was sixth in 24:08.
The county meet is scheduled for Sept. 26.