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Devils dominate county meet
Regan Hill
Mooresville senior Josh Cox was all alone at the front, winning Tuesday’s Iredell County Cross Country Championships by 11 seconds.
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Published: October 7, 2009
UNION GROVE - Mooresville's boys cross country team again asserted its county superiority with a dominant performance in Tuesday's Iredell County Cross Country Championships.
The Blue Devils finished with 21 points to win the event. Senior Josh Cox again paced the Devils, finishing the course in 17 minutes, 25 seconds.
After his team walked the 5K (3.1-mile) course at Van Hoy Campgrounds before the meet, Cox felt good about his and his team's chances of emerging victorious.
"I feel good," Cox said shortly before the race began. "I should win it."
Cox's prediction held true as he set a blistering pace, winning by a comfortable margin over teammate Jordan Sledge, who finished in 17:52.
Lake Norman runners Sebastien Carpentier and Michael Marshburn ran strong races, finishing third and fourth respectively to pace the Wildcats to a second place finish with 36 points.
North Iredell was third with 94 points, followed by West Iredell (114), Statesville (149) and South Iredell (155).
By the one mile point of the race, the top 10 runners were all from Lake Norman or Mooresville, with Cox and Marshburn setting the pace.
By the two-mile mark, Cox and Sledge distanced themselves from the pack, with Cox slowly pulling away from his teammate.
"The goal was simply to win," Cox said. "I didn't go all out. I took the lead at the mile and a half mark, and then just pushed for the win. If I had somebody to run with, I could have finished much faster."
Blue Devils coach Michael Royal was thrilled to win another county title.
"This was definitely one of the goals we wanted to accomplish as a team."
Sledge was also impressed with the effort of his talented teammate.
"Josh put in a lot of work over the summer," he said. "He totally surprised me with how good he's been this year."
Chase Martin, Jordan Hall, and Kevin Courson finished fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, to contribute to Mooresville's team score as the Blue Devils won their sixth straight county title.
"We didn't want to be the first (Mooresville) team in six years not to win it," Sledge said. "It gave us some motivation."
Others in the top 10 included Lake Norman's Michael Rupinski (seventh) and Charles Copeland (tenth), and Mooresville's David Rodes (ninth) as the two schools thoroughly dominated the meet.
When asked about the significance of winning his first county championship, Cox smiled and showed his humorous side.
"It feels great," he said. "I want to go to Disney World."
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