Story and Photos by Adolphus Ames —
Cross-country season returned last Wednesday, Sept. 8. Girls and boys teams from Northampton, Nandua, and Arcadia competed in a 5-kilometer course at Northampton High School.
The course was designed by Ernest Bethel, first year head coach for the Northampton boys team. Bethel ran cross-country at Bethel High School and Virginia State University. He also had an opportunity to run for New Balance, where his top 5K time was 15:03.
Weather conditions were not ideal for the first meet. Gray skies hung overhead throughout the girls’ race, before transforming into a steady downpour of rain that ended the boys’ race prematurely.
Top finishers in the girls category were: Grace Bentley (NAN 27:04), Lizania Morales (NHS 27:05), Laylah Jones (NAN 28:52), Jocelyn Torres (NHS 30:30), and Taylor Thornes (NAN 30:48).
