On October 12, with so many special accomplishments at the Albemarle Invitational, there were two moments linked in meaning and approach even if the jerseys, races and timing were different.
There was Western Albemarle’s top three girls coming in together at 10th, 11th and 12th.
“The three of us really push each other and today was the first day we ran as a really strong pack the entire race which is just really nice to see because it pushed me,” said Western’s Sterling Hull.
And there was Albemarle’s boys squad attacking Cardiac Hill together as a pack.
“It’s the biggest hill on the course so when we get to the top of we know it’s time to roll,” said Albemarle’s J.D. MacKnight. “We got to the top of the hill and knew what was ours.”
Those two teams’ performances may be a harbinger of things to come as the area’s cross country squads start postseason competition this week with the Jefferson District championships on Wednesday before region championships kick into gear the week of November 5.
Both the Western girls and Albemarle boys finished second in an incredibly loaded field at the Albemarle Invite, a day that included individual course records in both the boys and girls races (17:56.5 by Broad Run’s Ellie Desmond and 15.08.7 by Loudoun Valley’s Carlos Shultz) and the top three team performances in course history on the boys side by champion Loudoun Valley, runner-up Albemarle and third-place Western.
Albemarle’s boys have been getting the job done in recent years thanks to depth and running as a pack and that incredible second place finish was no exception. While Joe Yung and Will Mackenzie finished ninth and 10th, nobody was able to challenge for the individual title, with Yung more than 30 seconds off Shutlz’ pace. But within 34 seconds of Yung crossing the finish line, Albemarle’s top five runners had crossed, with Harris Naseh in 16th, MacKnight in 26th and Stephen Smith in 29th. It was an impressive performance that set the tone for the Patriots going into the postseason.
“There’s been struggles through the whole season — for me personally it has been tough but in these races it’s all about the team and I embraced that today,” Naseh said after the Albemarle performance. “Everyone embraced it today.” (story continued after photo)
Photo by Kristi Ellis
Western was impressive as a team too with that third place finish, though Jack Eliason’s individual challenge of Shultz — he finished just seven seconds behind the Loudoun Valley star — stole the show a little. It followed an incredible outing at the Great American in Cary, North Carolina the week before where Eliason took fourth with a blazing 15:05.10.
“(I’ve been) patient and trusted the process,” Eliason said. “Luckily I’m fortunate enough that it’s starting to come together at the right time with less than a month before the state meet.”
Joe Hawkes took seventh for the Warriors while Joseph Taylor, Stuart Terrill and Will Bonner rounded out the Warriors’ top five at the Albemarle invite, with all three finishing close together from 30th place to 36th place with just a five second spread.
There’s always a lot deserved talk during wrestling season about who’s in the room training with another wrestler, iron sharpening iron to be ready for hard matches. If you’re not getting pushed in practice it’s hard to find that next gear on race day in cross country too. For Eliason, he and Hawkes have had that impact on each other, forming a senior duo that should be formidable going into the district, region and state runs. They worked together at Albemarle and they’ll surely keep working together throughout the postseason.
“The plan was just to go out together and work together the whole time, stay a little bit controlled,” Eliason said. “We just had trust that we could push it in the second and third miles which we’ve always been pretty good at.”
Ocean Lakes won the girls team title ahead of second place Western in the Albemarle Invite, with Albemarle’s girls placing seventh.
The Western girls’ boost came from Kate Ratcliffe, Hull and Stutzman finishing in that tight pack, a huge step forward for a group that’s been slowly building this season.
“Throughout our season we’ve been racing really good teams so (The Albemarle Invite) was a chance to see what we can do,” Ratcliffe said.
Freshmen Jackie Neilon and Jordan Stone rounded out the Warriors top five in the invite, with Neilon finishing in 41st in that race and Stone taking 57th.
The Warriors followed that up with an eighth place at the Milestat.com Invitational, checking in as the highest rated 3A team in a field that included squads from out of state as well as private schools. The Warriors also edged out 2A power Maggie Walker by a single point in that race. Stuzman, Hull and Ratcliffe finished within 15 seconds of each other in that one, with Stuzman in 38th, Hull in 45th and Ratcliffe in 50th.
Albemarle’s girls ran well at the Albemarle Invite including a seventh place individual finish from Arianna DeBoer that spearheaded a seventh place finish for the Pats. They’ll be a major contender in Region 5D with Madelyne Zarzyski, Madeline Kronebusch, Abby Murphy leading the way.
A lot of local squads have individual runners who are definitely worth keeping an eye on too, like Louisa County’s Cierra Caicedo and Charlottesville’s Penelope Tingley, who both placed in the Top 15 at the Albemarle Invite. Monticello’s Will Krehmeyer, Louisa’s Bowen Varney and Charlottesville’s Reece McKee are among the runners who could be a factor on the boys side.
Now the question becomes what has the regular season meant? How does it translate to the next three weeks and specifically how does it translate to November 16 when half the state heads to the Great Meadow in The Plains while the other half heads to Green Hill Park in Salem?
Upcoming Cross Country Postseason Meets
District Meet Schedule
10.23.19: Jefferson District Championships
10.29.19: Northwestern District Championships
10.30.19: Bull Run District Championships
Region Meet Schedule
11.5.19: Region 3B (William Monroe)
11.6.19: Region 3C (Western Albemarle, Fluvanna County, Charlottesville, Monticello)
11.6.19: Region 4B (Louisa County, Orange County)
11.6.19: Region 2B (Madison County, Goochland)
11.6.19: Region 2C (Nelson County)
11.7.19: Region 5D (Albemarle)
Private Schools
10.26.19: BRC/VIC Championships (Blue Ridge, Covenant)
10.26.19: VACA State Championships (Regents)
11.1.19: Prep League/LIS Championships (STAB, Woodberry, FUMA)
11.7.19: VISAA State Championships
