W.A. Myatt won the first Isaiah 40:31 Run at Cape Fear Christian Academy as a junior in high school in 2010 and was invited back by race director Cherry DeVane for the 10th anniversary of the event on May 4.

Myatt was all-state in cross country at CFCA. His return to CFCA also involved a comeback in the 2019 five-kilometer race.

“I started out with a conservative pace,” Myatt said. “By the water station halfway, the others had fallen back and I was in the lead. I stopped at the water station and got some water to drink.

“Trey (Tripp) passed me and got about 20 meters ahead.”

Myatt has been teaching and coaching at Shallotte Middle School. He hasn’t been training to any extent.

“I caught up with Trey and ran with him for a while,” Myatt said.

Tripp was a freshman on the CFCA cross country team this school year.

“We got to the baseball field and it was time to go,” Myatt said.

Did he have any gas left?

“I had nothing left,” Myatt said.

Still, he was first to the finish line behind the CFCA cafeteria in 24 minutes, four seconds.

“That was slower than his time in the first race (sub-19),” said Mrs. DeVane, a longtime math teacher at the private school on Erwin Chapel Road.

Tripp was second in 24:12. Mrs. DeVane’s daughter, Emily Reynolds, was first overall in the female division in 25:36.

Ruby George was the fastest female finisher among CFCA students in 27:45. Thomas Honeycutt was first among elementary school runners in 31:05.

The top three faculty finishers were Lolita Tripp (30:31), Karina Maya (31:55) and Missy O’Brien (32:38).

The fastest non-faculty parents were Robbie Adams (26:23) and Ashley Black (28:44).

Honeycutt won the 10-and-under boys division. Tripp was first in the 11-15 boys age group and Landon Alphin was second. Ruby George was first in the girls 11-15 division, Taylor Denning was second and Camryn Denning was third.

Adam Steen won the male 16-20 division. Kristen Bass was first for the girls in that age group and Emilee Adams was second.

Myatt won the men’s 21-30 age group. Reynolds was first for the women, Maya was second and Allison Eason was third.

Mark Eason was first in the men’s 31-40 age group. Black won for the women, Amanda Michalowski was second and Brandi Blair was third. Robbie Adams won the men’s 41-50 division. Tripp won for the women and Nuria Bennett was second. Steve DeVane won the men’s over-51 competition and O’Brien won for the women.

Mrs. DeVane noted that there were 94 entries for the 5K, mile run and 100-yard dash. The total raised was $3,871.

There were some timing issues in the mile run but eighth-grader Will Hobbs was first for males in 6:54. First for females was fourth-grader Samantha Crumley in 7:29.

In the 100-yard dash, Ben Thompson won for the first grade, Talton Herring was second and Tristan Van was third.

For the second/third grade boys, Beau Coombs was first, Gavin Van was second and Trent Michalowski was third. Olivia Thompson was first in the girls second/third grade, Ella Wilborn was second and Maddie Tyndall was third.

For the fourth-grade girls, Lily Kate Dupree was first and Samantha Crumley was second.

Honeycutt won for the fifth-grade boys, Landon McLamb was second and Rhett Alphin was third. Kaedyn Moran won for the girls, Carolina Honeycutt was second and Grace Viox was third.

For sixth-grade boys, Gabe Michenbacker was first, Landon Alphin was second and Camden George was third. Larah Tripp was first for sixth-grade girls and Camryn Denning was second.

For middle school and above, Trey Tripp won for the boys and Jaden Crumley was second. For the girls, Ruby George was first, Taylor Denning was second and Karina Maya was third.

31 miles in 40 days

The CFCA student council also hosted an “Isaiah 40:31 Challenge” to walk and/or run 31 miles in 40 days (from March 25 to May 3). These dates included weekends and spring break. Any student that wanted to participate could keep a log of his/her miles completed daily. Any student that completed the challenge will receive a certificate.
The students who walked/ran the most miles over those 40 days received a trophy.

The trophy winners for elementary school were third-grader Ella Wilborn (33 miles) for girls and second-grader Jesse Overbee (97.08 miles) for the boys.

For middle school girls, McKenzie Burris did 65 miles and Jackson Breslin did 115 miles for the boys.

Marlee Butler did 51 miles to lead the high school girls and Grayson Barefoot did 65 miles for first among high school boys.

The preschool classes also participated in this challenge. Every day if it was not raining, they walked 20 laps around their playground. Each preschool student will receive a certificate and the student council will give them an ice cream party.

The student council used proceeds from the Isaiah Run and other projects to purchase a permanently-mounted sound system for the gym (approximately $10,000) two years ago.

“My dream continues to be that one day we will have a separate multi-purpose facility for weekly chapels, music and drama productions, and other school-wide assemblies,” Mrs. DeVane said. “I was hoping it would be a reality by our 50th reunion (this year). My next goal would be by our 60th, if not sooner!”

Ceremonial run

The 10th anniversary of the Isaiah Run included a ceremony beforehand.

Myatt started the ceremonial run on the soccer field as the student responsible for getting the event underway in 2010. Chad Turlington also was a driving force at the outset. Each class at CFCA was represented.

Participants included Tatum Black from K4 (Brown and Toler), Luke Davis and Kay Summers from K5 (Hassselburg and Wagoner), Bijou Hester and Kale Dedrick from first grade (Galfsky and Wilborn), Trent Michalowski and Beau Coombs from second grade (Nelson and Ray), Ella Wilborn from third grade (Ennis), Margaret Motschenbacher from fourth grade (Mason), Thomas Honeycutt and Grace Viox from fifth grade (Lee and Lumoindong)and Larah Tripp and Gabriel Motschenbacker from sixth grade (Thornton and Warren).

Also, Ella John Dupree for seventh grade (Godwin and Kelly), Gabbi Chiodo for eighth grade (Johnson), Trey Tripp for freshmen (Geddes), Thomas Yoo for sophomores (DeVane), Meghan Taylor for juniors (George) and Dillon Butler for seniors (Breslin and Maya).

Karina Maya was the staff volunteer in the ceremonial run and Emily Reynolds was the alumni volunteer.