By Liz Keller / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
FORK UNION — The Albemarle cross country teams put together a solid performance at the Fork Union Invitational on Saturday.
The Albemarle girls team finished first in the Colonial Division while the boys took second in the division on a beautiful day at Fork Union’s Hardy National cross country course.
The top two runners — Atlee’s Andrew Catanese and Douglas Freeman’s Silas Frantz — both finished under the course record (14:58) set by Fork Union’s Josh Morris last year. Catanese finished in a time of 14:52, while Frantz posted a time of 14:53 on the three-mile course.
Cosby High School ‘s Evan Niciphor took third, while Monticello ‘s Nathaniel Hermsmeier was the top local finisher in fourth with a time of 15:23.
Trinity garnered 63 points to outdistance second-place Albemarle (88).
“The varsity averaged around 16:15 and the varsity B won. And I knew we had depth in the (Ragged Mountain) Cup because the B team was eighth,” Albemarle coach Buz Male said. “But today was even better. In fact I think it’s probably overall the best meet we’ve had since I’ve been at Albemarle — all the way down the line.”
Austin McPhillips led the way for Albemarle with a 13th-place finish in 16:11. Ben Deal (16th), Adam Visokay (17th), Rowen Perry (19th) and Aaron Elder (23rd) rounded out the top five.
“Somebody would have a hard time coming up with a name out of our top 5. That’s what makes it so great, they run in a pack,” Male said. “Our No. 1 today, as a freshman might have run 22 minutes on this course. And he ran 16:11 today, and that’s what makes this course so much fun. The bigger the meet, the better it is to have that pack.”
Cosby High School ‘s Megan Moye (17:32) cruised to a win in the girls division, well ahead of Albemarle ‘s Allison Huschke, who finished in 18:34.
The Patriots (67 points) had three runners finish in the top 13 to edge out runner-up Mills Godwin in their tune-up for the Commonwealth District preview meet on Wednesday.
“We knew it was going to be a good race because we all did pretty well in the two-mile race [at the Ragged Mountain Cup],” said Huschke, a sophomore. “For my mile and two-mile times it was actually faster than I thought I was going to go, but my goal was to get under 19.”
Albemarle freshman Olivia Lewis was ninth overall, while teammate Elizabeth Sinclair was 13th. Maggie Tubridy and Summer Shepherd rounded out the Patriots’ top performers.
Other notable local runners included Monticello’s Madeline Hermsmeier, who was 10th. Teammate Cathy Merritt finished 19th as Monticello took seventh in the team standings.
