PRs in PA for Lady Vikings

After having battled the heat of Great Meadow and the hills of Oatlands through the first month of their season, the Loudoun Valley Cross Country team travelled north, crossing state lines into Pennsylvania to embrace a change of venue at the Carlisle High School Invitational. The team made the most of their travels, bringing home souvenirs in the form of personal records, team trophies, medals, and barriers broken.

Although cooler in temperature and notably flatter than the team's previous meets, Carlisle's course wasn't without its challenges. Runners splashed their way through three shin-deep water crossings as the course crisscrossed its way through the school's campus.

First to traverse the course were the JV girls, who paved the way for the team with a collection of 8 personal records and 2 season bests for the ten Valley runners in the opening race. Leading the way for the Vikings was senior Sadie Smith who took over two minutes off of her season best time, dropping from 25:56 at Oatlands to 22:51. Following the senior's example, a trio of freshmen followed with their own personal records. Malayna Smith knocked 1:39 from her previous best time as she crossed the line in 23:25, followed closely by Jolie Brackens who shed over two minutes from her best with a new time of 23:41. Kaitlyn Sullivan followed suit with a 44-second best of 24:32.

Clarice Hartman, a hurdler at heart, demonstrated her new endurance as she eclipsed her previous best of 27:22 by over two minutes as she sprinted down the final hills to a time of 25:08. With five runners already through the chute, the Vikings were still getting started. Senior Ally Bell ran a season best time of 25:57 as she inched closer to her all-time best of 25:12. Mirren Boswell crossed the line shortly after Bell in 26:39, edging out her previous best by 3 seconds.

The biggest improvements of the day in terms of time-dropped came with Valley's remaining 3 runners. Katherine Garcia smashed through the 30-minute barrier with a time of 28:15, taking a staggering 5:15 off of her previous best. Behind Garcia, Grace Kester edged out Clementine Little in identical times of 31:25 for personal bests by 2:10 and 28 seconds, respectively.

While PRs were the clear objective of the JV girls, the varsity squad had a variety of other intentions in mind. Making season debuts, the team's leading duo of Scarlet Fetterolf and Ava Gordon used the meet as a litmus test of their current fitness levels while hoping to lead the team to a top-5 finish for a team trophy. The Vikings were not without challengers as they faced off against several of Pennsylvania's top teams in Dallastown, Downingtown West, and Hershey, as well as out of state contenders in Delaware's Padua Academy and Dulaney of Maryland.

From the gun, Fetterolf made quick work of shaking off the cobwebs as she strode through the opening straightaway with the race leaders. Gordon, playing it more conservatively, eased off of the gas pedal slightly, gauging her fitness and feeling her way through the opening mile.

Behind Valley's 1-2 punch, a formidable 3-4 was making their way through the field as Eryn Lackey and Ella Peterson ran shoulder to shoulder throughout the race with their sights set on besting the 20-minute barrier for the first time, while Sam Bolen pushed her own limits as the team's ever-important #5.

As the runners crossed their final water pit just beyond the two mile mark, Fetterolf continued to push the pace along with the leaders, finding herself in fifth place overall. Fetterolf held her position all the way through the finish, passing over the line in 18:44, the 3rd fastest time of her career and a testament of her dedication through the many hours of additional cross training that it took to maintain such fitness during several weeks of recent injury.

Gordon continued her steady effort, meeting her pre-race goal of 19-minutes with her final time of 18:57 in 9th place, giving the team the best 1-2 finish of any team in the elite 37-team field. Both Fetterolf and Gordon earned trophies for their top 20 finishes.

With two already through the chute, Lackey and Peterson continued their climb through ranks, passing 21 runners in the middle mile, and ultimately kicking down the final straightaway with their eyes affixed on the official clock.

With the 20-minute barrier ticking closer, the duo pushed each other all the way through the line, finishing in 33rd and 34th places, with Lackey leading Peterson in personal record times of 19:52 and 19:53, respectively.

Sam Bolen completed the team's scoring as their 5th runner, finishing in a time of 21:26, her best since 2019. Katherine Slovak and Geneva Dinh rounded out the varsity squad with times of 22:12 and 22:21. Slovak's time marked a season's best by 41 seconds as she has consistently improved with each race.

In team scoring, the Vikings came away in third place, earning a team trophy and medals for each member of the varsity squad.

The Vikings look to continue their build toward full strength as they eye their next meet, the Great American Cross Country Festival on Saturday, October 2nd in Cary, NC.