Albemarle’s boys and girls cross country squads doubled up with a sweep of the Jefferson District titles Wednesday at Darden Towe Park, holding off second place Western Albemarle in both instances to snag the championships.
The Patriots’ boys dominated the Top 10 with runners placing third, seventh, eighth and tenth. Zach Gentry took third, Hunter Lund took seventh, Thomas Jackson took eighth and Will Law snagged 10th as the pack closed the door on Western.
Dave Kwiatowski closed out the scoring runners for AHS out with a 14th place finish.
Western’s Gannon Willcutts took the individual title with a time of 15:55.33, with Warren Riley Covert snagging the runner-up slot. Western also got a big boost from Trevor Stutzman in fourth and Jack Ehelenberger in 13th. Ben Skinner took 16th and Ethan Cole 21st to round out the scoring runners for the runner-up Warriors.
Travis Moe’s fifth place finish for Fluvanna capped the top five on the boys side and Monticello’s Andrew Gonce was the Mustangs’ top finisher in ninth while Powhatan’s Austin Conway took sixth.
On the girls side, Albemarle edged Western by two points despite a one-two finish by Annie Taylor and Chance Masloff for the Warriors. Again the pack mentality played a big role for the Patriots as four runners finished in the top seven—and all four of them were freshmen. Kenzie Lloyd took third for AHS, then Ryann Helmers took fifth, Jenn Wendelken took sixth and Gabriella Bock snagged seventh. Sydney Winterton’s 19th-place finish was enough to lift the Patriots to the title.
Western’s Zoe Clay and Erica Grupp went back-to-back at 11th and 12th to push the Warriors into contention for the title and then Annie Lorenzoni took 16th to round out the scorers, but it wasn’t enough as Winterton’s finish capped the Albemarle victory.
Kristen Cabrera of Fluvanna finished fourth for the Flucos while Monticello had a pair of runners in the top 10, with Renee Craft in eighth and Laura Habermeyer in ninth. Caroline Marquis finished 10th for Orange County.
The Jefferson District race has no impact on the postseason, and all teams will advance to their Conference meets, with most scheduled for next week in various locations. Albemarle and Orange will compete in the Conference 16 meet at Halifax County High Wednesday, Fluvanna, Charlottesville and Louisa will compete in Winchester the same day and Monticello and Western will race at Turner Ashby Tuesday. Powhatan
