Swansboro claims ECC girls title

 SWANSBORO - The Swansboro High girls track and field team followed the success of their male counterparts.

One day after the Pirates won their first boys league title in 30 years, the Swansboro ladies duplicated the accomplishment, tallying 222 points to win the East Central 2-A Conference championship on Thursday.

Swansboro, which has been defeated just once - a non-conference event to Jacksonville - bettered second-place Croatan by 138 points. Southwest and Northside tied for third.

"Our girls are pretty deep and depth wins these meets," said Pirates head coach John Liles, who was voted as the conference's Coach of the Year. "We just have a good group of girls."

Junior Carrie Dail and sophomore Natalie Oshita each paced Swansboro by earning individual honors. Dail was named the Most Valuable track and field performer after wins in the 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes, while Oshita was the Most Valuable track performer after victories in the 800 and 1,600.

Dail recorded a time of 12.8 seconds in the 100, ran 27 seconds in the 200 and 1 minute, 3 seconds in the 400 to total 38 points. Oshita crossed the finish line in 2:39 in the 800 and 5:37 in the 1,600 to total 25 points.

Northside's Danielle Adams was named Most Valuable field athlete after wins in the long jump (16 feet, 1 inch), triple jump (34-2) and the high jump (5-9) to record 30 points.

"Carrie is a solid citizen and a great girl," said Liles. "You never see her down, you always see her smile.

"Natalie refuses to lose, she doesn't like to get beat."

The Pirates' Samantha Hammonds won the 100 hurdles in 17.8 and the 300 hurdles in 50.8. Caitlyn Redfearn seized the discus at 93 feet while Sidney Sutherland claimed the pole vault by learing 8-0 and Brooke Kinsey won the 3,200 in 13:15. Swansboro ended with 15 personal bests.

"The big names came through and some of the girls who have been in their shadows like Caitlyn and Sidney came also backed them up with first place finishes," said Liles. "Samantha Hammonds also had a great day."

East Duplin's Shea Gardner won the shot put while Southwest and Swansboro each won two relay races.

Now the Pirates prepare to defend their regional title. Swansboro will host the NCHSAA 2-A Eastern Regional championship Saturday, May 3 with events starting at 10 a.m.

"I hope we have a better performance on Saturday," Liles said. "We put a lot of pride in our girls program and the girls hope to keep the tradition."

TEAM: Swansboro 222, Croatan 84, Southwest 83, Northside 83, East Duplin 33, South Lenoir 30, Richlands 10, Clinton 2.

INDIVIDUAL: Shot put: Gardner (ED); Discus: Redfearn (S) 93-0; Long jump: Adams (N) 16-1; Triple jump: Adams (N) 34-2; High jump: Adams (N) 5-9; Pole vault: Sutherland (S) 8-0; 100 meters: Dail (S) 12.8; 200 meters: Dail (S) 27.0; 400 meters: Dail (S) 1:03; 100 hurdles: Hammonds (S) 17.8; 300 hurdles: Hammonds (S) 50.8; 800 meters: Oshita (S) 2:39; 1,600 meters: Oshita (S) 5:37; 3,200 meters: Kinsey (S) 13:15; 400 relay: Southwest 53.5; 800 relay: Southwest 1:50; 1,600 relay: Swansboro 4:27; 3,200 relay: Swansboro 10:47.