The John Paul II cross country teams were impressive in their season opener Tuesday in a meet hosted by Parrott at the Kinston Rotary Dog Park.
Sophomore Gabe Lewis, last year’s conference runner-up, ran a very smart race in the 95-degree heat and humidity and finished first individually in 18:54.33, six seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Senior Cristian Waddell-Lallana, a newcomer to the team this season, was the second Saint across the finish line, taking 12th in 21:33.97, just ahead of teammate Estevan Morales (13th, 21:43.28). They were followed by Michael Dunn (22nd, 23:35.0). Johnallen King (25th, 24:09.99), Davis Walsh (39th, 25:13.69), senior newcomer Gabe Call (46th, 26:38.94), freshman Christopher Morton (47th, 27:01.04) and Paul Doban (52nd, 27:50.94). There were 77 individual finishers.
“For the opening meet, those are some very good times and they show the progress of the program,” coach Joe Corley said. “If it’s 15 or 20 degrees cooler, those times all would’ve been 90 seconds to two minutes faster. I couldn’t be happier with how those young men got out there and competed today.”
In the team competition, JPII finished behind only Parrott and ahead of Epiphany, Greenfield, Wayne Christian, Rocky Mount Academy, and Wayne Country Day.
Freshmen Anna Mason (24th) and Ava Walsh (36th), sophomore Emma Anderson (38th), and junior Avery Respess led the girls team, which was without one runner and therefore didn’t post a team score.
Please come out on Monday, Sept. 11, and support JPII in its only home meet of the season. The race will be held on the JPII athletics campus and will start and finish near the football field.
