Mount Tabor, Furr set sights on title

By: Mason Linker | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: May 22, 2009

A boys relay team from Mount Tabor has its sights set on a state record, and Hunter Furr -- who runs on that team -- will try to win his first state titles in two years Saturday in the NCHSAA 4-A track-and-field championships.

The NCHSAA outdoor season will end at N.C. A&T's Belk track this weekend. The Class 2-A championships will be today, and the 4-A championships will be Saturday.

Furr, a 6-2, 215-pound senior who has signed to play football at North Carolina, swept the NCISAA 3-A titles in the 100 and 200 meters in 2006 and 2007 while attending Forsyth Country Day.

He made his first appearance in the NCHSAA 4-A meet last spring but was disqualified for a false start in the 100-meter final and finished second in the 200.

Coach Patrick Cromwell of Mount Tabor said that Furr is unbeaten in the 100 this spring and has won all but one 200, finishing second at the talent-packed Taco Bell Invitational in South Carolina.

"He is bigger than he was last year," Cromwell said. "Football is still a priority. He is racing right now at 215 pounds, and I have never seen a kid that fast carrying that amount of weight. His times are about where they were last year. On a great facility like A&T has, I think his times will drop. If he gets the right race and good weather, getting close to his personal best is possible."

Furr's best times this spring are 10.46 seconds in the 100 and 21.21 seconds in the 200.

"But he hasn't been pressed yet," Cromwell said. "And he rises to the level of competition better than anyone I have ever known. When the lights are on Saturday, I expect a big one. The main thing, he came to Tabor to win some championships, and last year that eluded him."

Furr called Belk Track his favorite track in the country.

"Not only is it the state meet in front of everybody, but everyone thinks that track knocks off two or three tenths (of a second)," Furr said.

Furr will run the anchor leg on a 4x100 team ran 41.31 seconds in winning the Midwest 4-A Regional last Saturday. That time is the 10th fastest 4x100 time in state history and the 12th fastest high-school 4x100 in the United States this year, according to rankings at www.dyestat.com.

Furr, junior Caleb Johnson and sophomores Eric Plummer and Dwane' Stokes could break a seven-year-old state record -- held by a former Mount Tabor team -- Cromwell said. In 2002, J-Mee Samuels, Jerrod Wiley, Wes Bailey and Mike Loyd of Mount Tabor combined for a record time of 41.06 seconds.

"They finally got their handoffs right," Cromwell said. "You have two guys (Furr and Johnson) on there that are two of the top sprinters in the state, and with good clean handoffs, those guys ran really well.

"I hope they win for each other, but if they have a good day, that (state record) time could go down. They had a huge win last weekend, and those guys are really excited."

Cromwell said that New Bern's normally strong team lost a top sprinter and had a sprint-relay team that didn't advance through regionals. Cromwell added that New Bern's misfortune could give the Mount Tabor boys a shot at the team title.

In order for that to happen, Furr and Johnson will have to run well in the 100 and 200, Jared Neely will need to score in the 1,600 and 3,200, and the relay teams will have to come through.

■ Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com.