SPORTS
Ronnie Gallagher, Sports Editor, 704-797-4287 rgallagher@salisburypost.com
Prep baseball Johnson helps East Rowan to first-round playoff victory/8B
1B
SATURDAY May 15, 2010
SALISBURY POST
www.salisburypost.com
Green Machine Cuthbertson, North Rowan win state championship BY BRET STRELOW bstrelow@salisburypost.com
GREENSBORO — An exhausted Tinka Bush removed her shoes and socks after completing her final event at the 1A state track meet on a sweltering Friday. Bush, her toenails painted green, stepped up to her spot on the wooden medals stand but immediately started hopping around to keep the bottom of her feet from burning. The silly mistake was an exception for North Rowan’s girls, who scored 80 points to capture the 1A title at North Carolina A&T. The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics finished five points behind the Cavaliers, who took seventh in 2A last year after hoping to challenge Burlington Cummings. “This time last year we came in here and we weren’t mature enough to win it,” coach Robert Steele said. “We were talented enough, but we weren’t mature enough and fell apart. “Today we didn’t drop many things that we shouldn’t have dropped. We didn’t have any major adversity. It’s the difference in a year and a few more people.” North sophomore Teaunna Cuthbertson, who was involved in setting a pair of meet records, was named MVP. She won two individual events (long jump, 100 hurdles) and was part of a first-place 4x100 team with Christen Jones, Timesheia Allen and Tianca White. The Cavaliers’ other victory came from the 4x200 team of Bush, Jones, Allen and Akevia Charleston. The meet’s final race determined first place in the team standings. North took a ninepoint lead into the 4x400, and Steele knew NCSSM was capable of earning 10 points with BRET STRELOW/SALISBURY POST a victory. That happened, meaning North Rowan’s Teaunna Cuthbertson won the Most Valuable Performer award after taking the Cavaliers needed at least state 1A titles in the long jump, 100 hurdles and 4x100 relay.
Woman comes to LT’s aid
BRET STRELOW/SALISBURY POST
North Rowan’s Tatiana Banks slows up after handing the baton to Corbin Bennett in the 4x400. The relay team’s third-place finish helped the Cavs sew up the state title. the two points that accompany a seventh-place finish. The quartet of Tatiana Banks, Corbin Bennett, Charleston and Allen stayed near the front throughout the race and claimed third in 4:11.25. They knocked eight or nine seconds off their previous best time to clinch North’s fourth girls championship. The Cavs won 2A titles in 1999, 2000 and 2001. “All we’ve been thinking about all week is winning this state championship,” Cuthbertson said. “That’s all that’s been going through our minds.” Cuthbertson set a meet record with an effort of 19-31⁄4
on her first attempt in the long jump, topping the 19-21⁄2 from Polk Central’s Sandra Davis in 1987. Bush and White were third and fourth, respectively, in the event. Cuthbertson ran a 15.14 in the 100 hurdles to beat Monroe’s Janieyah Collins by more than a second and was the second leg as the 4x100 team posted a meet-record time of 49.48. “The 4x100 is exciting because you have your team counting on you,” Cuthbertson said. “Sucking people up, going after people, is one of the big things.”
See 1A
CHAMPS, 5B
Truex on pole at Dover
Associated Press
NEW YORK — A woman has come forward as a defense witness in the sexual assault case against Lawrence Taylor, saying the 16-year-old girl who accused the NFL legend of rape never had sex with him, according to a statement from the woman confirmed Friday by Taylor’s attorney. The 23-year-old woman said in a sworn statement that she accompanied an alleged pimp and the 16-year-old girl to a hotel outside New York City where Taylor was staying. She said the teenager returned to the car with $300 in cash and said: “It was weird ... we didn’t even have sex.” “He’s innocent. She’s lying. She wasn’t raped,” she said in the statement. The statement was given to investigators working for the defense team and seen by The Associated Press. Defense attorney Arthur Aidala said he was planning to use the woman’s testimony in the case. The 16-year-old girl has never been identified.
BY DAN GELSTON Associated Press
SUBMITTED PHOTO BY LYNN PILSON
Salisbury’s girls track team celebrates their regional championship last week.
Hornets try for 2A track title today BY BRET STRELOW bstrelow@salisburypost.com
Romar Morris is favored to repeat in the sprints, but Salisbury’s boys might have to pull a few surprises to complete their pursuit of a second straight 2A title. The state meet will be held today in Greensboro, where the Hornets are expected to battle Berry Academy and Kinston for first MORRIS place. Salisbury edged Berry for the top spot at the Midwest Regional.
Morris is again seeded first in the 100 (10.40 seconds) and 200 (21.76). He’s part of a second-seeded 4x100 team (43.34) with Joseph Figueroa, Hanson Saryee and Dominique Dismuke. Morris, Figueroa and Saryee contributed to a third-place finish in that race last year. Morris’ fourth event at the regional was the 4x400, but Salisbury’s entry was disqualified. The Hornets’ other standouts are Darien Rankin (long jump, high jump), Nick Summers (1600, 3200, 4x800) and fellow distance runner Philip Tonseth. Alisha Bradshaw, Meloney Ramos, Emi-
See 2A TRACK, 5B
DOVER, Del. — Martin Truex Jr. has been first to finish at Dover International Speedway and now he’ll be first to start. Truex turned a lap of 157.315 mph and won the pole on Friday — nearly three years after he won his only career Cup race at Dover. Truex won his first pole of the season and first since last November at Phoenix. “Hopefully, the best is yet to come and we’ll be in here talking to you Sunday,” Truex said. The native of Mayetta, N.J., has long considered Dover his hometown track. He made his first career start in NASCAR’s second-tier series at Dover in the No. 56 — the same number he uses now in his first season with Michael Waltrip Racing. “All those little things make it special for me,” Truex said. Truex could use a strong run to make the jump into the top 12 and move closer to securing a spot in the Chase for the championship. He’s 13th
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Martin Truex Jr. poses with the pole flag after qualifying first. entering Sunday’s race, only 16 points behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. for 12th. Truex was in the Chase in 2007 when he drove for Dale Earnhardt Inc. He’s had seven straight top-20 finishes this season and was sixth in the season-opening Daytona 500. Truex has appeared to work well with new crew chief Pat Tryson and made an easy transition to MWR. “It took us a while to kind of put all that together and figure out what the cars at MWR wanted and what I wanted,” Truex said. “I feel like we’ve got a better understanding of the race cars now and what we need in them for us to be competitive.”
See TRUEX, 6B