Princeton's boys and girls cross country teams both earned bids to the NCHSAA 1-A state cross country championships this weekend with fourth-place finishes at the Mideast Regionals in Pender County last weekend.

"I am very proud of both teams," said Princeton coach Marty Gurganus. "Every runner ran their career best at the regional. It was a great day for us. I feel really blessed to coach students who are both great runners and, more importantly, good people."

Will Toler led Princeton's boys with a run of 17:14, while Chris Dewberry (19:30), Caleb Hinton (19:31), Ethan Anderson (19:42) and Dalton Langdon (19:44) all broke the 20-minute barrier. Guy Lampe finished in 20:22, while Tyler Daniels clocked in at 20:50.

For the girls, Hattie Dougherty led the way for Princeton in 22:41, while Sarah Toler clocked in at 25:50. Katherine Lampe (26:43 at regionals), Kayla Hagans (28:23), Jessica Lewis (29:33), Kristina Moore (33:21) and Katherine Wallace (33:56) will also run at Tanglewood for the Bulldogs in the state finals.

The 2009 1-A state championship race will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Soccer playoffs begin this week

The NCHSAA soccer playoffs begin this week with West Johnston, North Johnston and South Johnston all in the field.

South will host Wilson Fike on Wednesday night at 7, while North hosts Durham School of the Arts on Wednesday at 6. West Johnston, which qualified as a wild card team, will open the playoffs at Green Hope.

First-round winners will play in second round matches on Saturday.

North takes second in Northern Carolina

North Johnston wrapped up a second-place finish in the Norther Carolina 2-A Conference boys soccer race last week with a 6-0 win over Warren County and a 1-all draw with Bunn. The Panthers finished the regular season 11-6-3 overall and were 6-3-1 in the league.

North will host Durham School of the Arts tonight (Wednesday) at 6 for a first-round 2-A state playoff match.

The Panthers will host the third place team from the Carolina Nine Conference in a first round playoff match this week.

North recorded its eighth shutout of the season on Oct. 26 in a 6-0 win over Warren County. Jake Whitton and Sean Mangum combined on the shutout. Hunter Brame scored two first-half goals and Jesus Rios added another. Ian Harned, Luis Perez and Brame all scored in the second half. Wesley Mangum and Perez also picked up assists.

Brame scored North's goal in the 1-1 tie with Bunn. Mauricio Cortes picked up an assist on the goal after a solid cross. Whitton had seven saves.

Advance tickets available for SSS vs. Clayton football game

Tickets are available in advance this week (through Friday at noon) for Friday night's varsity football game between Smithfield-Selma and Clayton. The price is $6, but purchasing in advance will help fans avoid anticipated long lines at the ticket window on Friday night.

SSS-Clayton junior varsity game moved to Wednesday

Smithfield-Selma will host Clayton in junior varsity football on Wednesday, instead of the previously scheduled Thursday date next week. The varsity game will remain on Friday night at Clayton High School. The Comets are honoring their 1989 state championship team at Friday night's varsity game.

South holding reverse raffle on Saturday

South Johnston's athletic booster club will hold its annual reverse raffle on Saturday night. Tickets are $50 each and include a steak dinner. The top prize in the raffle is $5,000. For tickets or more info, contact the school at 894-3146.

North girls 12th in region

North Johnston's girls cross country team finished 12th in the Mideast 2-A Cross Country Regionals on Saturday. The Panthers totaled 313 team points.

Junior runner Brittany Pate led the Panthers with a 52nd place finish in 26:17.28. Logan Shirley of North was 58th (26:55.78).

Mileski finishes in top-50

Princeton junior Christi Mileski finished in the top 50 at the NCHSAA 1-A/2-A/3-A State Girls Golf Championships last week. Mileski finished at 193 for the 36-hole event held at Longleaf Golf and Country Club in Southern Pines. She fired a 93 on the second day.

Individual champion Kayla Scuipider (149) led West Henderson to the team state championship.

Clayton's Lizzie Bundy finished fifth in the 4-A state championships at Foxfire.