Union Pines swept the Overhills Jaguars in a Cape Fear Valley (CFV) conference meet, Wednesday in Cameron in the season opener. The Vike girls and boys are now 1-0 on the season.

The Viking boys beat Overhills 20-39 using a strong team effort. Jag Phillip Vance won the meet with a time of 18:37, but Union Pines claimed spots two through 12. Vike Brandon Peeken came in second, followed by sophomore Joseph Morris and senior Will McCoy.

Peeken was confident before the race that Union Pines would prevail. "I knew we had some depth on our team," he said. "Personally I did better than I expected.

Morris is still getting used to cross country races. "I did not have my groove today," Morris said "and I am hoping that at the Jungle Run I will run better and get my groove on."

Team leader and veteran Will McCoy expects the Vikings to be very competitive this year.

"For the first race of the season I am satisfied with the way we performed," McCoy said. "It looks like it is going to be another great season. We seem to have great depth and I hope the freshmen will stick with it, because they will be magic when they are upperclassmen."

The Union Pines girls cruised to a 17-45 victory over the Jaguars. Vike sophomore Brittany Stevens won the race with a time of 22:55. Senior captain Victoria Glenn captured second and sophomore Courtney Voss finished third. Overhills had only three runners in the top 12.

"We have been working really hard and have been pushing it a lot to be ready for this year," Stevens said. "I felt pretty good out there today. I was really nervous in the beginning, but when I got to the 2-mile mark I started to pick it up a bit and then I kicked it in the end."

Voss was surprised with her third place finish. "I really pushed it hard out there," she said, "and ran better than I anticipated. The way we have worked in the preseason and then how we ran today makes me think we have a good chance of winning the conference again."

Both Union Pines teams will be participating in the Jungle Run Invitational, 6 p.m. this Saturday, in Fayetteville at South View High School. The Vikings return to CFV competition Wednesday when they host Southern Lee.

UPHS Top Finishers

Boys -- 2. Brandon Peeken, 18:48; 3. Joseph Morris, 19:14; 4. Will McCoy, 19:34; 5. Trevor Morris, 19:49; 6. Brandon Berry, 20:14; 7. Josh Bryant, 20:26; 8. Dan Deardorff, 21:33.

Girls -- 1. Brittany Stevens, 22:25; 2. Victoria Glenn, 23:32; 3. Courtney Voss, 25:00; 5. Kayla Lively, 26:02; 6. Jessie Wilson, 26:44; 8. Carley Lively, 27:59; 10. Ashley Huff.