Girls 2nd, Boys 5th in 100-team Knights Crossing
9.9.23 Salem, VA
Cross country is a unique sport in that the season often starts with uncomfortably hot weather and ends in damp cold conditions, usually over the course of 3 months. The Knights Crossing Invitational brought it all in the span of just a few action-packed hours of racing.
Under clear sky, bright sun, and late summer heat, the Varsity "Red" Races were first to tackle the course. The Lady Vikings traveled over 4 hours seeking state-wide competition and a chance to state their season's intentions and wasted no time doing so. Ella Peterson bravely set out with the lead pack as the race was pulled along by a contingent of runners from private school Cardinal Gibbons, an athletic powerhouse from Raleigh, NC. Tucked in behind the Cardinal Gibbons crew, Ella battled side by side with the top runners from Virginia while fighting for a top-10 position.
Behind Peterson in the early stages were freshmen Noelle Cates and Harper Bartlett who were fighting their own battles to earn medals by being in the top 25. All of the top three Vikings accomplished their missions; Peterson flew through the chute in 7th place (the 2nd Virginian) in 19:10, with Bartlett and Cates claiming their medals with their 24th and 25th place finishes in PR times of 19:41 and 19:43, respectively.
With three fantastic races already tallied, the Viking's fourth and fifth runners were running remarkable races of their own. Ella Phelps, last week's #5 runner, rose to the occasion at Knights Crossing. Phelps started aggressively in approximately 35th place in the first mile, aiming to set a personal record on the relatively flat terrain. Phelps maintained her position through mile two and ultimately climbed to 29th place before crossing the finish line in 19:58, her first time under 20 minutes.
In perhaps the biggest story of the Vikings' girls race, senior Eryn Lackey laced up her spikes for the first time since the 2022 edition of Knights Crossing. Although 12 months removed from racing, Lackey showed that she's ready to help the Lady Vikings this season as she maintained the 5th-runner scoring position for the team throughout the race. Although, admittedly, not race-sharp yet, Lackey's time of 20:40 made her the 2nd best #5 runner in the meet (behind Cardinal Gibbons). Lackey's fantastic season debut in 42nd place was enough for the Vikings to secure 2nd place as a team, leading all Virginia schools.
Rounding out the varsity team for Loudoun Valley were Kate Verry (21:21 in 60th), Mayleen Hyett, who opened her season with a strong 21:27 for 64th place, Lucy Popp (23:31, 147th place), and Jolie Brackins (24:09, 174th place). The race consisted of the best 44 teams in the meet, with 368 finishers.
In boys action, Ty Blair set the tone for the Valley runners, clearing the first mile mark in 5:01 in approximately 20th place. Joining Blair in the varsity race were 9 others: Bradley Bernard, Max Panica, Julian Israel, Baylor Bartlett, Jordan Cates, Tim Sweeney, Eli Popp, Owen Lantow, and Kyle Bratrud who was making his first varsity start. With temperatures rising into the low 80s and a "real-feel" of 85 degrees, the boys battled not only the other 54 teams in their race, but conditions as well.
While Blair continued pushing with the leaders and climbing through the pack, Bernard and Panica paced together as the team's #2 and 3 runners. Through halfway, Blair was easing into a top-10 position while the remaining top 5 looked to score in the top 100 of the 465 man race.
With a strong final surge, Blair pulled into 7th place and finished in a time of 15:50, his best on a full 5k course. From there, the weather was taking its toll on all runners. Bernard maintained composure to tie his previous season best of 17:17, while Panica fell a few positions back in 17:21, despite fighting sickness for several days prior to the meet. Bernard and Panica finished in 49th and 54th places, respectively.
Running in the crucial 4th and 5th positions, Israel and Bartlett each dropped their season best times with Israel passing the line in 17:45 and Bartlett dipping under 18-minutes with his 17:58. Likewise, Jordan Cates, who earned his varsity spot after a tremendous JV run a week earlier, slashed his season best with a time of 18:19 as the team's #6.
As a team, the boys finished in a remarkable 5th place of 55 teams in the Red Race.
With the early races recovering from racing in the heat, the White Races began to gather around the start line as temperatures dropped and the sky darkened. The heat and humidity soon broke and dark clouds, cool air, and rain took over. The Valley girls welcomed the cooler temperatures as they took off down the opening straightaway in a light rain.
Rowan Haws and Acadia Kincaid pushed the pace early for Valley as the light rain became a heavy downpour, a still welcome feeling for runners expecting heat. Haws and Kincaid never let up their early race tactics, with Haws climbing though the field of runners to claim 25th place in the 169 girl race with a personal best time of 23:02. Kincaid also claimed a PR as she stepped across the finish mats in 23:29 for 31st place.
The great racing didn't stop there! Frances King finished only 12 seconds later with her best time of 23:41 with Logan Lackey and Mirren Boswell close behind in 23:52 and 24:01.
Other personal bests in the girls White Race were run by:
Lily Poag (25:12 to 24:45)
Sarah Ney (25:28 to 25:19)
Reilly Hooks (26:59 to 25:20)
Sophie Hudziak (26:12 to 26:04)
Abby Elias (29:42 to 29:33)
As the weather worsened and cracks of thunder roared in the distance, the boys White Races launched into action. As though inspired by the conditions, the boys ran a total of 26 personal best times.
Leading the way for the Vikings was William Liu who was running in his first race of the 2023 season. Liu darted the front of the Vikings squad and never looked back, as he lowered his personal best time by 1:39 to skip over 19-minutes entirely as he dropped from 20:16 to 18:41 in a single race.
With Liu setting the tone for the team, the PRs began to pour as much as the weather. Liu was joined in the 18s by freshman Sawyer Clark who dropped his best from 19:33 to 18:55, while the McClelland brothers set PRs with Jack's 19:33 and Justin's 19:46.
Nick Singleton followed suit by dropping his PR into the "teens" with a time of 19:52, down from his best of 20:34, and over 3 minutes faster than his time at Knights Crossing last season, while Nick Thomas slashed his PR from 22:16 to 20:50, skipping the "21s" altogether, and just over 4 minutes faster than last season's Knights Crossing!
Adding to the PR frenzy were:
Collin Reason (21:06 to 19:52)
Aspen Kincaid (21:27 to 19:55)
Teddy Nordling (20:17 to 20:16)
Caiden Wells (20:27 to 20:17)
Isaac Stiltner (21:03 to 20:56)
Soren Ogelman (22:10 to 20:58)
Josh Kuhni (22:10 to 20:59)
Alex Upperman (22:38 to 21:31)
Josh Thomas (22:36 to 21:45)
Austin Mosier (24:08 to 21:45)
Ian McDonough (22:02-21:57)
Micrea Nemes (23:14 to 22:11)
Wyatt Lechliter (23:20 to 22:34)
Jack Mills (23:08 to 22:47)
Tucker Egee (23:05 to 22:47)
Kai Dock (23:22 to 22:56)
Ethan Talley (24:24 to 23:17)
Alex Thorn (24:54 to 23:17)
Evan Leiden (24:27 to 23:41)
The Vikings will race again on Wednesday, September 13th with a partial squad at Lightridge High School. The full schedule can be found under the Schedule and Results tab on lvrunning.com.
