The men fell to the Spartans 40-16, something coach Mike Costantino said may have been the result of his top-two runners - Austin Boyette and Matt Crecco - getting lost in the last half mile of the race.

"Despite this, the remaining athletes ran hard and now have something to prove next week," Costantino said.

The men's team dropped to a record of 3-4, 2-2 in the conference.

As for the women's race things turned out a bit more interesting. The two teams tied with a score of 28, which was settled based on the sixth-place runner for each team. Warrior novice Erica Frederick became the deciding factor and made it count, beating Smithfield's fifth-place girl to force the tie and win the tiebreaker.

"And she passed the SSS athlete in the last five feet of the race to do it," Costantino said.

The win boosts the women's record to 4-3, 3-1 in the Greater Neuse.

Costantino said both teams continue to rely upon strong pack running to secure points. He said notables from last week's race, aside from Frederick, include Sara Hester, who's improved from 9th to 7th on the women's team; Logan Jones and Jessica Garcia, who led the way for their respective sides; and the women's team's "power block" of Ashley Stacy, Olivia Marinakis, Emily Oakley and Sarah Broadwell, which helped provide the positioning that allowed Frederick to produce the win.

Results: East Wake Cross Country at Smithfield-Selma - Wednesday, Sept. 9.

Men: 1 - Kerran Green (SSS) 19:21; 2 - Andrew Autry (SSS) 19:27; 3 - Kyle McKeel (SSS) 20:00; 4 - Tyler Simmons (SSS) 20:08; 5 - Logan Jones (EW) 20:21; 6 - Collins Creech (SSS) 20:26; 7 - Camden Finch (EW) 20:56; 8 - Tyler Hester (EW) 21:06; 9 - Carson Lyman (EW) 23:17; 10 - Jorge Gonzales (SSS) 23:30; 11 - Nick Pirro (EW) 23:41; 12 - Bryan Duttman (EW) 24:50; 13 - Bennett Howell (EW) 24:58; 14 - John Watkins (EW) 25:00.

Women: 1 - Cassandra Lindquist (SSS) 22:45; 2 - Jessica Garcia (EW) 23:06; 3 - Olivia Johnson (SSS) 23:40; 4 - Mary Stuart Harris (SSS) 25:27; 5 - Ashley Stacy (EW) 26:30; 6 - Olivia Marinakis (EW) 27:19; 7 - Emily Oakley (EW) 27:21; 8 - Sarah Broadwell (EW) 27:38; 9 - Niki Creech (SSS) 29:23; 10 - Erica Frederick (EW) 29:32; 11 - Tempe Lampe (SSS) 29:32; 12 - Stefy Castro (SSS) 30:11; 13 - Sara Hester (EW) 31:00; 14 - Kaitlyn Moss (EW) 31:06; 15 - Lindsey Broadwell (EW) 31:09; 16 - Celeste Loia (SSS) 31:31; 17 - Leah Ward (SSS) 31:43.