By Ronnie Gallagher
rgallagher@salisburypost.com
GRANITE QUARRY ó Does it make any sense at all that the East Rowan and Carson girls ran away from the field in Wednesdayís NPC track meet at East and didnít have any of the MVPs.
Well, kinda.
East coach Lu Gamewell will be the first to tell you itís about team, not individuals. And the Mustangs scored just enough points to hold off the Cougars 132-126 and win their second straight league title.
ěThe strength of our team is that everybody does their part,î Gamewell said. ěThey get a point where they can.î
Gamewell then made her point by praising the Mustangs who didnít win.
She ripped off names like Summer Curlee in the triple jump, Kayla Myers in the hurdles, Megan Linke in the 800, Casey Gullett in the two-mile and Olivia Sabo and Hayley Gardner in the discus.
ěWe all pull together,î said Gamewell. ěWeíre a family.î
Jenna Cauble led East by scoring 18 points. She won the 100 hurdles.
Looking back, it was probably the discus and the 800 that made everyone look hard at the six-point difference.
For Carson, Les-Lee Efird pointed to the 800 where Sierra Zemanick was leading with 200 yards remaining but cramped up in her hamstring and fell out. Hannah Houston of South eventually won. She was named distance MVP.
For East, it couldíve been the discus, where the Mustangs racked up points by finishing 1-2-3. Ashley Brown won (93-4), followed by Sabo and Gardner.
ěWeíve been strong in the discus all year but I wasnít expecting 1-2-3,î said Gamewell. ěI was expecting 1-5-6.î
In the end, Gamewell gave credit to Carson.
ěCarsonís a really good team,î she said. ěI knew it would be between us two.î

NOTES: Yasmine Culbreath of Statesville was the field MVP and LaShanda Ellis of West Iredell was sprint MVP. … West Iredell was third (84), followed by South (681/2), Statesville (521/2), North Iredell (50) and West Rowan (32). … Other East winners were Devan Corpening in the triple jump, Abby Kepley in the 400, Melissa Green in the high jump, JaQuasha Littlejohn of South won the shot … Carson winners included Jesse Troutman in the pole vault, the 4×800 team of Devan Purvis, Miranda Wyatt, Zemanick and Jordan Murdoch (a soccer player subbing for an injured Kelly Dulkoski), the 4×100 relay team of Demya Heggins, Jada Holloway, Krystal Wood and Paris Parks, the 4×400 relay team of Megan Gray, Wyatt, Sarrah Holman and Holloway and Zemanick in the 1600 … Westís first-place winner was Christa Landy in the 100 and 200.