Thursday, September 27, 2001

The Natchez Democrat

Tanieka Hill, Clint Johnson and Natchez High continued their

mastery of the local cross country circuit on Tuesday at a practice

meet at the Natchez Trace Parkway. All three took first place.

That much has become somewhat expected.

But the performances turned in by Cathedral and Wilkinson County

runners pleased both the Green Wave and Wildcat coaches.

Each Cathedral runner clipped seconds off their previous times,

and five Wilkinson County boys finished the 3.1-mile course in

under 22 minutes in their first organized meet of the year.

&uot;What can I say about our girls? They all broke 20 (minutes),&uot;

exclaimed Cathedral coach Earl Hefley at his squad’s improvement.

No Green Wave girl has run cross country before this season, Hefley

noted.

Laura Huffines led the way for Cathedral with a time of 16:22

on the two-mile course, which was good for sixth place. Erica

Smith finished in ninth place with a time of 17:51.

Natchez was once again led by Tanieka Hill, though she was

challenged by teammate Taji Dorsey. Hill and Dorsey sprinted side

by side over the last 100 meters, with Hill stretching at the

end for the win.

Having someone run next to or ahead of Hill has been a rare

occurance. She has won her last three meets. Hill said Dorsey’s

presence gave her more reason to run faster.

&uot;Taji pushed me the whole way,&uot; Hill said. &uot;It

helped me a lot. It helped my time.&uot;

On the boys side, Johnson claimed the individual title with

a time of 17:03. Karlescio Richardson took second, 58 seconds

behind Johnson. Natchez won the team title with a score of 20.

Wilkinson County ended with 45 points and Cathedral had 65.

Wilkinson County coach Ken Brown was satisfied with his squad’s

performance. Freshman Percy Harris finished in fifth place with

a time of 18:39. Senior Charles Robinson, the lone senior on the

team, ran a time of 20:23.

&uot;For the first meet, I’m not dissatisfied,&uot; Brown

said. &uot;Now they realize if they work a little bit better,

they can do some things.&uot;

Cathedral and Wilkinson County will compete in the Alcorn State

Invitational on Oct. 6 on the Braves’ campus. Natchez will be

off until Oct. 13 when it tackles the course at Mississippi College.