Knights Crossing Recap
Some may find it a little crazy to travel 4 hours for a race that only lasts 20 minutes, but as the Loudoun Valley Vikings strode across the finish line at Saturday's Knights Crossing Invitational, it was clear that what they accomplished- personal records, team bonding, broken barriers, and new experiences- would last far longer than the finish line clock could ever display.
The Loudoun Valley Cross Country teams traveled south this weekend to compete against the best of Virginia and North Carolina at Green Hill Park in Salem, Virginia. Known for its fast course and strong competition, the Vikings looked to strike early season PRs and raise the bar for the remainder of the season. By meet's end, 49 members of the team had eclipsed their previous personal bests.
First to take the course were the varsity girls. After a long bus ride and a hurried warm-up, the team had just enough time for a few deep breaths to calm their nerves before stepping to the line and awaiting the sound of the gun. With a mixture of veterans and those making their varsity debuts, the Vikings launched off the starting line.
Leading the way early on were juniors Eryn Lackey and Ella Peterson. Running without usual front runner, Scarlet Fetterolf, who was on a college visit, Lackey and Peterson pushed hard to lead the team and make up for any lost points as they passed through the first mile in 8th and 9th place just a tick over 6-minutes. Senior Sam Bolen followed closely behind the two front runners as she passed the mark in a strong 6:06, just a few strides back.
The remainder of the Viking pack was a less experienced group fighting to secure their spots on the varsity line-up. Looking to help the team as #4 and #5 runners, a trio freshmen, Madeline Platt, Anna Ramos, and Ella Phelps, passed the first mile within 3 seconds of each other in 6:39, 6:40, and 6:42 with the pack around 80th place. Roughly 15 second later, sophomores Mayleen Hyett and Jolie Brackins passed the mile in 6:55, with freshman Kate Verry passing 30 seconds later.
From the mile on, things began to separate toward the front of the pack, but Lackey and Peterson clung together to fight for their top-10 positioning as they passed 2 miles in approximately 12:10. Bolen trailed by 30 seconds as she remained in medal contention with her 20th place. Ramos and Platt found their way through 2 miles in 13:42, having lost just a few places after their aggressive first mile, while Phelps, who was making her Viking debut, trailed by just 10 seconds.
The final mile of the race wound its way through two U-turns and a lengthy open stretch around the flat grass field with tantalizing views of the finish line with over a half mile left to run.
From here, Lackey ran a masterful race, passing 2 runners in the closing minutes to move her way to 6th place in an enormous personal best of 18:44, taking over 40 seconds off of her previous PR and shattering the 19-minute mark for her first time. Likewise, Peterson maintained her positioning to claim 10th place in a 22-second personal record of 19:06.
Not to be outdone, Bolen, too, maintained her position through the closing mile to finish in 20th place 19:33 to take 20s from her previous best and earn a medal with her top-25 finish.
With the veterans in the chute, the remaining team scoring rested on those with limited varsity experience. The freshmen trio of Ramos, Platt, and Phelps rose to the occasion with all three breaking the 22-minute barrier with times of 21:25, 21:28, 21:42, respectively. Rounding out the team were Mayleen Hyett, Jolie Brackins, and Kate Verry who helped the team tally 9 straight personal bests with their 22:32, 22:34, and 24:00 times, respectively. Impressively, Hyett and Brackins improved their bests by approximately one minute.
In team scoring, the Vikings finished with 207 points in 5th place overall out of the elite 36-team field, despite running without their usual top runner. Winning the meet was North Carolina powerhouse Broughton High School with 131 points, while in-state rival Blacksburg High School took second with 133 points.
With rain now starting to fall, the boys varsity team was next to race as they looked to continue the streak of personal bests set in motion by the girls. Guiding the early charge on for the boys team was senior leader Jake Rimmel who set the early tone for the Vikings with an opening circuit that saw him pass the mile in 5:06, with Ty Blair on his heels in 5:08, and Rylan wells in contact at 5:14 with all three runners inside the top 25.
Much like the girls race, the boys were without a usual varsity runner, Gabe Cates. Composed almost entirely of new varsity runners, the trail pack was led by Julian Israel who pulled Pearson Dhillon, Bradley Bernard, Cade Schoeny, and Baylor Bartlett along within a 10-second span from 5:42 to 5:51. Tim Sweeney and Jason Canlas began their varsity debuts with side by side first miles of 5:57.
Up front, Rimmel, Blair, and Wells continued to grind away at the front of the race. Rimmel and Blair passed through 2 miles in 10:19 and 10:23, respectively, with Wells strolling through in 10:41. Rimmel and Blair were fighting for their top-25 medals in 16th and 18th place with the final grass circuit still remaining. Dhillon and Israel continued their push toward team scoring positions as they passed two miles in 90th and 91st places, with Dhillon entering uncharted territory well beyond his existing PR of 18:59 set just a week earlier. Only 10-20 seconds later Bernard, Schoeny, and Bartlett passed the 2-mile mark, also on PR pace.
In the final mile of the race, Blair, who admittedly ran too conservatively in the early stages, began to make up ground. Passing 3 runners, Blair ran his final 1.1 miles in 5:38 (5:07 pace), his fastest split of the race, to finish in 15th place with a personal best of 16:01.
Rimmel held his position, only being passed by Blair, through the final mile to run his best time of 16:06 in 17th place, while Wells passed 2 runners en route to a time of 16:30, narrowly missing his all-time best by 1 second.
Rounding out the varsity scoring were Dhillon and Israel. Dhillon ran a scintillating final mile, rolling past 11 runners and clocking 6:04 (5:30 pace) for the final 1.1 miles, by far his fastest split of the race. Dhillon's eyes widened as the finish line approached with the clock still showing 17 minutes, ultimately passing the line in 17:31, a personal best by nearly 90 seconds. Israel followed closely as he, too, set a personal best of 17:39.
Bernard and Schoeny joined Dhillon and Israel in the sub-18 minute club as they clocked their bests of 17:43 and 17:57, while Bartlett, in only his second race, fell just short of the barrier with a personal best time of 18:00.9 despite passing 19 runners in his final mile. Canlas and Sweeney added to the growing list of personal bests with their times of 18:26 and 18:41, respectively, with each recording their final miles as their fastest of the race.
In team scoring, the boys finished in 7th place overall with 209 behind rival Blacksburg who won the meet with 112.
In JV action, the girls team was led by junior Grace Maceri whose time of 23:45 was her best in two years and the 9th fastest of the Vikings as she finished in 28th place of the 151 runners in the race. While Grace Maceri's race was the fastest, it was freshman Jaeda Pelletier who showed the greatest improvement with her astonishing 6:13 improvement (SIX MINUTES!!) over her previous best. Pelletier finished in 26:13, obliterating her time of 32:26 from only 10 days earlier.
Almost too numerous to recount, below is a list of the remaining girls' personal bests (alphabetically, with previous best in parentheses):
Mirren Boswell 23:56 (25:28- 1:32 improvement)
Olivia DiNapoli 35:32 (36:59- 1:27 improvement)
Katherin Garcia 24:34 (25:28- 54s improvement)
Amber Glass 26:04 (27:16- 1:12s improvement)
Clarice Hartman 24:52 (25:08- 16s improvement)
Rowan Haws 23:51 (25:39- 1:48 improvement)
Sophie Hudziak 26:12 (27:41- 1:29 improvement)
Grace Kestler 28:08 (30:57- 2:49 improvement)
Acadia Kincaid 25:40 (26:59- 1:19 improvement)
Frances King 26:13 (29:41- 3:28 improvement)
Logan Lackey 26:10 (26:46- 36s improvement)
Lily McCall 26:02 (28:59- 2:57 improvement)
Zoey Nicodemus 26:31 (29:16- 2:45 improvement)
Jaeda Pelletier 26:13 (32:26- 6:13 improvement)
Freshman Abby Alias made her debut for the team in 29:42.
In the boys JV race, Ethan Sanborn took the race out hard to set the tone for the rest of the team. Although being passed later by two teammates, Sanborn still finished in 19:54, his first dip under 20-minutes, as he bettered last year's mark of 20:25. It was Jordan Cates who ultimately took control for the team on his way to a stellar time of 18:18.
Cates strategically paced himself to move through the field, hitting the first mile in 15th place, the 2nd mile in 10th place, and finishing in 8th place with a final mile of approximately 5:54. Also earning a medal for his top 25 finish were Garrett Boldin (18:45 PR in 15th place), Eli Popp (18:59 PR in 18th place) and Connor Ney (19:03 in 21st). There were 203 runners in the race.
Also setting personal bests were(previous best in parentheses):
Ryan Bacharach 29:04 (34:40)
Kyle Batrud 20:31 (22:01)
Josh Kuhni 23:08 (24:43)
Owen Lantow 20:19 (20:33)
Ted Lantow 21:47 (23:00)
William Liu 20:23 (21:36)
Jack McClelland 19:44 (19:47)
Justin McClelland 20:11 (21:15)
Connor Mraw 21:38 (22:33)
Teddy Nordling 20:17 (21:06)
Cooper Ramos 21:08 (21:48)
Pratik Shrestha 20:08 (20:52)
Nicholas Singleton 23:41 (24:51)
Chris Thornton 19:23 (20:29)
Making their Viking debuts were Austin Jacomet (21:36), Brendan Harvey (21:36), and Connor Ellis (23:48).
The Vikings will race again on Wednesday, September 14th at Woodgrove High School and Saturday, September 17th, at the uniquely formatted RVA Relays at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, VA. Can the coaches be persuaded to race at RVA? .....Only if you actually read this far into the article!
