From Jacksonville Daily News
Lejeune boys win: Throughout the season, Topsail boys’ team has dominated the Coastal Plains 1-A Conference meets. But Lejeune found a way to pull off the upset to come away with the conference title over Topsail, Dixon and East Carteret.
“We have been taking about it the last week,” Lejeune head coach George Schumacher said about the conference championship meet. “We have been catching up with them. They did just that. They ran an outstanding race. The team had that mentality that we were going to do the best that we can do.”
What helped Lejeune was four of its runners finishing in the top six. Jack Kramer was second with a time of 19 minutes, 6 seconds; Evan Jackson was third with a time of 19:08; Brendan Mulcahy was fifth at 19:22; and Clint Muskett finished sixth with a time of 20:08.
“My top four came through,” Schumacher said. “Those four kids were contributors for our win.”
Schumacher said having this win is perfect for the Regionals that will be coming up on Oct. 27 as it can give the Devilpups confidence.
“I really feel that this is a stepping stone,” he said. “We started at the bottom and worked our way to the top. We are going to do the very best we can do.”
Tyler Redinger of Topsail won the boys meet with a time of 18:38. He was named MVP of the conference.
“He’s an outstanding runner,” Schumacher said. “He had a good form and he’s a good young man. He’s going to be tough to beat at the Regionals.”
Topsail had six girls finish in the top six to win the girls meet over Dixon, Lejeune and East Carteret.
Lejeune didn’t have enough runner to post a score, but Schumacher was proud of the way they performed. Kelly Hurley, Stephanie Hough and Valeria Martinez finished in the top 10.
“The girls came out looking for one of the top seven spots,” he said. I got one girl (Hurley) finishing it. They tried to do their best.”
Brittany Zinser won the girls meet with a time of 21:09 and was named MVP of the conference.
“She’s going to be tough to beat at the Regionals,” Schumacher said. “For her to break in the 20s is very tough in our region.”