The top five Viking boys' cross country runners Will McCoy, Dylan Blue, Joseph Morris, Trevor Morris and Daniel Deardorff posted a perfect score by sweeping places one through five during a three-school league meet in Fayetteville last Wednesday.

One week later head coach Nat Carter opted to rest them all. Union Pines participated in the jungle run last weekend and is taking place in the Wolfpack Invitational at the campus of NCSU this weekend. As a result Carter decided to give his top five runners a well needed rest.

"When I compared the season results in preparation for Wednesday Cape Fear Valley (CFV) conference meet at Overhills," Carter said, "I felt like we had a chance to get our top guys a rest and still have some success."

Carter's team did not disappoint, as it won meet by claiming spots 3 through 7 in the race to improve to 3-0 in conference competition.

"This meet gave our team the chance to build some camaraderie," said Carter. "For our usual top runners it was a great day, as they were able to cheer their teammates on to an exciting victory. It also built confidence among our other runners because they had to perform knowing their times would be the ones which would count when the competition was over."

Vike junior Brandon Berry finished third with a time of 18:20, followed directly by senior Thomas Freeman who posted a personal best 18:31. Senior Lamont Reaves placed fifth (18:51), followed by sophomore Joshua Smith (18:56.) Saulo Rodriguez also posted a personal best by running a 19 minute flat race, finishing seventh to round out the top five for Union Pines.

Other Vike runners with personal best times in the meet were: Seth Owens, Justin Davis, Jordan Hicks, Austin Nichols and Izzey McDonald. The Viking girls took home a second place finish at the meet as they are now 2-1 in the CFV.

Gray's Creek Pummels Vikes' Soccer

The Viking back four's struggles with organization and communication continued Wednesday, at Woodrow Wilhoit Stadium, as Union Pines lost its CFV conference opener 4-1 to the Gray's Creek Bears.

Now at 0-5 on the season, the Vikes have been outscored 18-2 on the year.

The Vikes, who last lost to Gray's Creek in 2005, entered the match with an eight-game winning streak against the Bears.

Down 1-0 early in the first half, Union Pines played well for a seven minute span as they moved the ball around the field from the outside to the middle , and then back out with control and poise. The result was a goal by sophomore Evan Lindsay, assisted by junior Allen Cha, which tied the game at 1-all in the 8th minute.

However, from there the Vike back line began to break down in on their marks and in positioning as the Bears scored two easy goals to take a 3-1 lead into intermissiom.

Union Pines offense failed to ever get back in rhythm as the match progressed, opting to play one-on-one soccer and dribble for long stretches while on the attack.

With the loss Union Pines is now 0-1 in CFV play. The Vikes next take to the pitch, Monday at 7 p.m., when they travel to Lillington to square off against league foe Western Harnett.

Mustangs Harriers Second, Third in Conference Meet

Paige Garner (7th overall) and Jourdan Wofford (11th) helped the North Moore girls' cross country tream to a second place finish at a home cross country meet against conference foes Tuesday.

Gray Stone won the meet.

The Mustang boys took third behind a strong performance by Justin Marley (11th overall) and Alex Landers (12th) out of 63 runners. Gray Stone also won the boys meet.

Chris Coble, head cross country coach at North Moore, said his team is progressing nicely, but has had some bumps in the road.

"Our girls have had a rash of injuries," Coble said. That, coupled with the decision of one of last year's top runners to not run this year, has hurt the team's depth.

"I think our boys team can really makeit into the upper part of the conference if we keep progressing as we have to this point," Coble said. "We keep improving weekly so I still feel great about the rest of the season," Coble said.

Mustangs Stumble Against Gray Stone

The Gray Stone boys' soccer team ended the North Moore winning streak at two Wednesday night, handing the Mustangs a 7-2 in Yadkin Valley Conference action. Head coach Ben Shamberger said his team came out flat following a 30 minute weather delay. The Mustangs will host conference foe South Stanly at 6 p.m. Monday.

Falcons Get Win in Volleyball

Alex DiMaggio had 10 kills and Meri-Liz Faulkner had seven digs and three solo blocks, as the O'Neal volleyball team rallied past Fayetteville Academy, 17-25, 25-21, 25-23. The Falcons scored seven points on Faulkner's serve in the decisive third game. The win moved the Falcons to 7-2 overall. The Falcons are on the road against Northwood Temple at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The next home match is Oct. 6.

Pats Fall in Volleyball

The Pinecrest volleyball team was swept 25-14, 25-14 and 25-19 by Scotland County in Laurinburg, Tuesday evening.

Leading the Patriots in the losing cause were Addy George with 16 kills and seven digs, and Paige Horne and Megan Thomas with six digs each.

The Patriots dropped to 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference and 4-6 overall. They are at home for the first time in league play on Thursday, with Purnell Swett providing the opposition. The junior varsity match begins at 5 p.m. followed by the varsity contest at 6.

Falcons Blank FA in Tennis

The O'Neal girls' tennis team rolled to another easy win Tuesday, defeating Fayetteville Academy, 9-0. In singles, Brianna Ek won over Jessica Morales 4-1 (injury default); Katie Jenkins defeated Kristen Mcconnell 6-0, 6-0; Amelia Schirmer defeated Christina Sumers 6-0, 6-0; Mary Garner defeated Sita Chandra, 6-0, 6-0; Virginia Scarpa defeated Haley Bigler 6-0, 6-0; and Victoria Scarpa defeated Sree Yallapragada. In an exhibition match, Greyson Keel defeated Emily Hobgood 8-0.

In doubles, Ek and Jenkins won 1-0 (default); Schirmer and Garner defeated Sumers and Chandra 8-1; and Scarpa and Scarpa defeated Yallapragada and Bigler 8-0. The Falcons improved to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the Cape Fear Independent Conference. Fayetteville Academy fell to 0-4, 0-1.

O'Neal Teams Fourth in Cross Country Meet

The O'Neal boys and girls cross country teams each finished fourth in their first home meet of the year on Wednesday. The meet was held at Sandhills Community College.

The boys' team was led by sophomore Austin Puleo, finishing 5th overall with a time of 18:56. He was followed by Evan Davies (8th, 20:03-PR), Ian Maynor (20th, 21:24), captain Tommy Miller (28th, 22:00), Mark Pracht (38th, 23:28-PR), Zeb Viskovich (40th, 24:01), Josh Hager (56th, 26:19), Dylan Andrews (57th, 27:25), and Jack Lucas (60th, 30:29). Fayetteville Academy won the boy's race with 24 points. O'Neal finished fourth out of six teams with 80 points.

Finishing first for the O'Neal girls' team was eighth- grader Mulloy Manning. She ran eighth in 24:07, followed by Alana Godbey (10th, 24:32), captain Blair Puleo (12th, 25:15), Whitney Cutler (19th, 26:52), Leslea Everett (26th, 28:42), and Micaela Wilkinson (28th, 28:54-PR). Village Christian Academy finished first with 41 points. O'Neal was fourth with 74.

PHS Tennis Rolls to Win

The Pinecrest girls lost a total of only four games in six singles matches on the way to a 9-0 Southeastern Conference tennis victory over Richmond Senior, Tuesday afternoon.

Including two exhibition matches, 14 different players contributed to Patriot wins on the home court.

The Pats take a 4-0 league and 5-0 overall record into Thursday's match at Hoke County. Singles: Ally Parziale (P) def. Lauren Grant 6-0, 6-0; Brooke Mclean (P) def. Alyssa Reynolds 6-0, 6-0; Mariotte Meyers (P) def. Maggie McKenzie 6-2, 6-1;Hailey Cioccolanti (P) def. Taylor Webb 6-0, 6-0; Antonia Meyers (P) def. Farhana Shemna 6-0, 6-0; Crissy Nurnberg (P) def. Courtney Pope 6-1, 6-0.

Doubles: Ginni Holderfield/Gaby Alder (P) def. Grant/Reynolds 8-2; Karen Smith/Casie Jingle (P) def. Mckenzie/Webb 8-8 (7-1); Kate Hieronymus/Katerina Kohler (P) def. Shemna/Pope 8-2.

Other singles matches played - Sam Matthews (P) def. Ashley Martin 8-2; Kailey Ostermann (P) def. Maegan Davis 8-2.