Pinecrest collected 114 points as a team to 78 for second-place New Bern. Patriot runner Jed Black was selected as the MVP of the meet after winning the 1,600-meter run, anchoring the second-place sprint medley team and running a leg on the winning 1,600 relay team.
Katie Fields and Lauren Bishop were the only participants in the meet for the Pinecrest girls. They finished first and fourth, respectively, in the 1,600 run. Jacksonville won the girls’ meet.
“It was a bad weather day, which impacted the quality of the meet and the athletes’ performances,” Pinecrest coach Larry Martin said. “It was, I think, valuable to go down and match up with New Bern and get a little more insight to what they will bring to the regional. They were not 100 percent due to injuries and absences. They are going to be tough to beat in the regional.”
Pinecrest is the site of the East regional meet scheduled to be held on Saturday, May 13. Before that, the Patriots face Richmond, Scotland and Westover in a home meet beginning at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The Mid-Southeastern Conference championships will also be held at John Williams Stadium next Tuesday and Wednesday (May 2-3).
Black’s winning time in the 1,600 run at New Bern was 4:37. Teammate Chase Williams was second. In one of the other individual events, the Patriots’ Adam McDonald (5-foot-10), Rashad Covington (5-10) and James Pratt (5-8) took the first three places in the high jump.
Pinecrest came in first in four of the seven relays and second in another. Eleven different runners participated in the five events for the deep and versatile Patriot squad.
Andrew Garrison, Mark Moon, Billy Gehrung and Brett Baggett combined to take the 6,400-meter relay in 19:50. Brandon Wright, Blake Smith, Andy Wacker and Jordan Rickard made up the winning quartet in the 3,200-meter relay with a time of 8:36.
Wacker, Wright, Rickard and Lynwood Cox copped the distance medley relay. In the 1,600 relay, it was Cox, Black, Jeremy Hargrove and Jonathan Galberth finishing ahead of the field.
Pratt, Galberth, Hargrove and Black combined to take second in the sprint medley relay with a time of 3:37.
In other events, Nick Benton was fourth (12-6) and Tyler Benton was fifth (11-0) for Pinecrest in the pole vault. Hargrove was third in the 110-meter hurdles and Cox was fourth in the triple jump. Brandon Durant, Ryan Galbrieth, Pratt and Galberth were members of the Patriot 400- and 800-meter relay teams that finished fourth.
Boys’ team standings: Pinecrest 114, New Bern 78, Jacksonville 52, West Craven 43, Seventy-First 40, Farmville Central 32, Green Hope 30, Topsail 26, J.H. Rose 24, Garner 18.
