Led by a pair of individual champions in Joe Hawkes and Zoe Clay, Western Albemarle’s boys and girls cross country teams swept the Class 3, Region C championships in Lexington Thursday.
Hawkes, a sophomore, led the Western boys’ title effort with a 15:51.47 clocking. Freshman Joseph Taylor finished fifth, Max Miller took 10th, Will Koester took 16th and Cam Wood finished 25th to round out the performance. Western notched 45 points, nine points in front of Waynesboro who took second.
Clay’s 18:26.81 won the girls race, outpacing runner-up Emily Smeds of Fluvanna, the freshman who also was the runner-up in the Jefferson District meet. Junior Alyssa Santoro-Adajia grabbed fourth, Emily Winder took sixth, Jenna Hill finished 11th and Caroline McGahren finished 13th to wrap up the Warriors’ win. Western finished with 35 points, 24 points ahead of second place Broadway.
Fluvanna County’s girls squad took third place as a team, with Smeds taking second overall, fellow freshman Emily Beckman took eighth, senior Saige Haney took 12th overall for the Flucos. Kristen Cabrera finished 20th and Brianna Parker took 35th.
Monticello’s girls finished fourth overall, led by freshman Caroline Wilson in seventh. Freshman Samantha Lange took 14th, Maria Vizcaino took 15th, Kelly Shuren took 23rth and Hannah Anderson grabbed 24th.
Monticello’s boys took fourth as well, with Jack Kircher in 17th, Will Krehmeyer taking 23rd, Eli Keith finishing 29th, Taylor Pierson taking 30th and Zach Wojcik finished 40th.
