RED SPRINGS — A pair of runners from St. Pauls won Thursday’s Southeastern Athletic Conference cross country meet at Red Springs.

Shaun Emanuel and Taliya Council each crossed the line first for the Bulldogs.

Emanuel finished in 19 minutes and 14 seconds, 11 seconds ahead of Clinton’s Cristian Ortiz and 12 seconds ahead of East Bladen’s Jacob Kanuth.

“It was kind of tough on the dirt road part, especially going uphill over there,” Emanuel said. “I passed the police officer (who was leading the field); I know she was doing 10 miles per hour, and I caught up to her pretty close.”

Sammy Hernandez finished fourth for St. Pauls in 21:04, Jeyvian Tatum was 10th in 24:27, Moises Ramirez was 11th in 24:34 and Randall Durden was 18th in 25:49. Josh Henders finished in 27:29 for the Bulldogs, Martinez Graham in 27:46 and Cameron Revels in 32:15.

That group helped St. Pauls to win the team competition with 36 points, just ahead of Red Springs’ 40. Clinton finished with 54 in third place.

Dylan Dean led Red Springs with a seventh-place finish at 22:08. Joshua McMillan was eighth in 22:35, Johnny Chavis ninth in 23:46, Kaedon Hunt 12th in 24:34 and Darren Wilkins 15th in 25:07. Makhi Arthur finished in 25:09, Nicholas Oxendine in 25:13, Kohnner Oxendine in 25:52, Jaaron Monroe in 26:42, Tyrese Oxendine in 37:06 and Caleb Brockington in 39:53.

Caleb Jacobs led Fairmont in 27th at 28:50 with Kyland Strickland 28th in 28:56 and Rodrick Deese 29th in 30:58. Ridge Waters finished in 37:27 and Khalil Alford in 39:49.

Council finished in 25:33 to win the girls race, about a two-minute improvement from her previous race.

“Somebody else pushed me, motivated me; she had a good start out, and I ran with her a little bit,” Council said. “And then I picked up the pace and ran with the boys, so that helped me out.”

Midway’s Madisen Cannady finished second in 25:46, helping lead the Raiders to the team victory with 27 points, with five Raiders runners among the top 10 finishers. West Bladen was second with 72 points, Fairmont third with 97, St. Pauls fourth with 114 and Red Springs and Clinton tied for fifth at 118.

Red Springs’ Dayanara Perez finished third in 26:47. Amari McLean was 12th for the Red Devils in 32;29, Rilee Sampson 30th in 31:18, Bridgette Perez 36th in 40:27 and Aliyah Segarra 37th in 40:34. Brooke Wilkins finished in 46:46, Shaniz Zagana in 46:52 and Michelle Hernandez in 47:22.

Paris Bethea led Fairmont in 13th at 32:57; Shamiya Smith was 14th in 32:58, Destiny Melvin 16th in 33:20, Genea Lesane 25th in 36:24 and Shaniah Smith 29th in 37:48.

Behind Council, Demira Wells finished 17th for St. Pauls in 33:20. Aunhay Teag was 31st in 40:03, Aniyah Easterling 32nd in 40:10 and Zalaya Gardner 33rd in 40:14.

Rams volleyball swept by Gray’s Creek

The Purnell Swett volleyball team lost 3-0 in Wednesday’s home United-8 Conference matchup against Gray’s Creek.

Gray’s Creek (12-0, 6-0 United-8) won the three sets by scores of 25-14, 25-13 and 25-16.

Chloe Locklear had nine assists, seven digs, two kills and two blocks for Purnell Swett (1-7, 0-2 United-8); Georgia Locklear had three kills, five digs and three blocks and Kayloni Eddings had two blocks.

The Rams play Thursday at Douglas Byrd.

Pirates soccer tops Bears

The Lumberton soccer team earned a 6-1 win at Gray’s Creek Wednesday.

The Pirates’ Holserson Joseph scored a hat trick in the victory, with all three goals coming in the second half.

Lumberton (7-1, 3-0 United-8) led 3-0 at halftime; the Pirates took an early 2-0 lead on a goal by Alexis Lopez, assisted by Joseph, and a goal by Luis Izeta, assisted by Jair Santos. Gray’s Creek (2-4, 1-1 United-8) scored its lone goal on a free kick that deflected off Lumberton’s wall, before Santos scored off a Jon Carrera assist before halftime.

Joseph’s three second half goals were assisted by Izeta, Angel Robles and Oswaldo Flores.

“I was very impressed with Gray’s Creek’s midfield; they caused us some problems,” Lumberton coach Kenny Simmons said. “We picked up some early injuries. But overall I thought our speed on the wings and depth was the difference.”

Lumberton plays Wednesday at Seventy-First.