By By Austin Bishop / EMG regional sports director
Oct. 2, 2004
Expectations were high for Northeast Lauderdale High School's girls and boys cross-country teams going into the 2004 season.
Nothing has changed.
Northeast won both the boys and girls divisions in the Lauderdale County Cross-Country Championships it hosted at Bonita Lakes in early September.
Now the Trojans and Lady Trojans are looking forward to competing in what is expected to be at least a 12-team meet at the Northeast Recreation Complex today.
The junior varsity portion of the event begins at 9 a.m. with the varsity girls beginning at 10 a.m., followed by the varsity boys.
Expected to join the host team in the Northeast Lauderdale Invitational are: Southeast Lauderdale, Clarkdale, West Lauderdale, Meridian High, Columbus, Newton, Newton County, Union, Philadelphia, Quitman and Wayne County.
Northeast Lauderdale has had seven girls break the 20-minute barrier over a 2.5-mile course so far this year.
When the season began Matthews had 16 girls out for the squad and is loaded with some outstanding talent as the Lady Trojans seek a district championship.
NEL won district titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
Carlisha Barfield went to the MHSAA State Track &Field Championships last spring in both the mile and half-mile events as an eighth grader. She has posted times in the 18:30 range so far this year.
Yolanda Truman, a junior who is a sprinter on the track team, won the county meet with a time of 17:50, barely nipping out teammate Bianco McDonald, who posted a 17:51.
McDonald is an eighth grader. She went to the state meet last year in the mile. Another young runner on the Lady Trojan squad is seventh grader Jill Pitts.
Pitts has posted times under 18 minutes so far this season.
Sophomore Whitney Ward was the South State champion in the two-mile last spring, advancing to the state meet. She also has been posting times under 18 minutes.
Brittany Bostic has also been running well and ran the Lauderdale County meet in a time of 18:02, finishing sixth overall. In fact, five of the top six and six of the top eight finishers in the county meet were from Northeast Lauderdale.
Shalonda Truman has also run under 20 minutes this year. Other girls expected to contribute are Tierra Amerson, Porshia Christian, Jessi Bouder, Andrea Hampton, Joy Bouder, Harriet Ward, Lexis Scott and Keandra Hopson.
The Northeast Lauderdale boys team is led by junior Antonio Serton, who was second in the county meet with a time of 18:10. The boys run a 5K, which translates into 3.1 miles.
Also running strong for NEL are sophomores Owen Lide and Hendrick Jefferson, junior Matthew Snyder and eighth grader Brach Barham.
Lide broke the school record for the two-mile as a freshman last spring. He was fourth in the county meet with a 19:03. Barham, Jefferson and Snyder have all been busting the 20-minute barrier, to give the Trojans a very strong top five.
Sophomore Stanton Wallace, who is running for the first year, has shown a lot of potential early and is closing in on the 20-minute mark. He ran a 20:30 in the county meet.
Others to watch for Northeast Lauderdale are C.J. Williams, Preston Smith, Tyler Blackwell, James Cranmore and Eric Bostic.