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Set the Course: Albemarle cross country trains sights on title

Albemarle senior J.D. MacKnight Photo by Kristi Ellis

Three years ago a single-minded group of Albemarle boys cross country runners — including a trio of sophomores — stunned the Virginia cross country world by running an unorthodox route to the Class 5 state championship, clocking in five runners between 20th and 32nd to hoist the trophy. 

 

Two years later, those three sophomores are now seniors and with a handful of newer additions have their sights set on another title and some bigger goals beyond this weekend’s state championships. But first things first — win the program’s second state title after finishing just third a year ago in a disappointing performance at Great Meadows.

 

“I remember coming up from the finish line and seeing Deep Run celebrating and I told the boys when we got back to school, keep that feeling in your back pocket, this entire summer remember that feeling because it was frustrating to work so hard and not get what we were aiming to get,” said senior J.D. MacKnight, who’s 32nd place finish in 2017 as a sophomore finished off the title-winning performance. 

 

That third place finish definitely sticks in the Patriots’ collective memory. They’re driven by it, locked in on atoning for that performance. 

 

“We made sure to change our mentality — last year we kind of races not to lose and this year we’re trying to race to win and be as dominant as possible,” MacKnight said.

 

With usual nemesis Deep Run in the mix as well as a number of other key competitors, the Patriots won’t have it easy by any means. But they can draw some serious inspiration from the way they ran at the Albemarle Invitational back in mid-October, finishing as the runner-up in a loaded field that included national power Loudoun Valley while running an average of 16:05 on the day, a scorching time on a brutally hilly course. It’s the kind of confidence-building outing that can drive a team for months.

 

“That was the pinnacle of what this program is all about,” said Harris Naseh, another senior who’s 20th place finish as a sophomore led the pack in 2017. “We went in there against the No. 1 team at that point in the country and we didn’t flinch, there was no fear.” 

 

The Patriots’ pack mentality has evolved since the 2017 run in part because Will Mackenzie, Harris Naseh and Joe Yung have all evolved into potential threats for an individual title or at least a top five finish in any given race. That changes the dynamics from the exclusively pack mentality approach that worked in 2017. Instead, the Patriots look more like a traditional frontrunner and that suits them just fine too. 

 

“We all have good shots at the top five or winning individually,” Yung said of himself, Mackenzie and Naseh. “It’s good motivation.” 

 

Instead, the pack mentality is now more about the team’s cohesiveness rather than running within 20 seconds of one another all the time. Naseh, Yung, Mackenzie, MacKnight, Stephen Smith and Jake Hartogenesis are seemingly always together all the time outside of practice, in school.  

 

“I teach in a room that has couches outside it and I come up in the morning and they’re all there,” said Albemarle coach Alex Lorenzoni. “Then we have Patriot Period, which is a study period and they’re all in there. And then at lunch they’re all there. They really are best friends, it’s kind of a dream as a coach.”

 

They’re an interesting mix of personalities too, with a couple of particularly serious runners in MacKnight and Naseh and runners like the injured Samuel Tamblre and Mackenzie keep things more loose. Yung and Smith bring a confidence and swagger that helps set the tone on race day. That blend is part of the Patriots’ excellence too. 

 

“We’re definitely very different, but we all work together,” Mackenzie said. “I feel like if we all had the same personality it wouldn’t work as well.”

 

MacKnight is critical to that mix. 

 

“In terms of leadership and building team culture, he’s the best I’ve ever had for that, he’s always thinking of a new idea,” Lornezoni.

 

The Patriots are one of several local teams competing Saturday in the state championships with a chance to win a state title. The Western Albemarle boys, the Western Albemarle girls and the Albemarle girls are all in contention for a title, with the Warriors headed south to Salem for their title race while Albemarle will head to the traditional Great Meadows course. Western’s boys are led by Jack Eliason, an individual championship threat and the Warriors went 1-2-3-4-5 at the Region 3C meet have a shot at potentially scorching the field again this week. Meanwhile, the Western girls led by recent JMU commit Sterling Hull do battle with Maggie Walker. 

 

The Patriots’ boys come in a little banged up to the state meet. Yung is nursing an injury that requires him to carry around a large PVC roller and use it in class throughout the day to stay loose. Saturday, he’ll look to make use of his particularly strong ability to push through things mentally and get the most out of his body, which was good enough to put him in ninth overall in the loaded Albemarle Invite. 

 

“I can kind of shut everything down and go for it,” Yung said. “It’s fun to be up there in the top group and battle.”

 

Whether it’s energy in the tank, talent or whatever else goes into race day, Albemarle has made a habit of maximizing its potential while emerging as one of the state’s premier programs and getting new runners to buy in from the start. 

 

“We do it by the results,” MacKnight said. “The top group does everything right day-to-day and the results show. We get people to buy in by showing what happens when you do.”

 

They get another chance to prove it Saturday and deliver again on the state’s biggest stage. After that they can turn their attention to Southeast Regionals and a potential trip to nationals, a goal that’s become a possibility because of the work the Patriots have put in, the pack mentality they’ve adopted not just on the course but in their lives. 

 

“You have something other than yourself that you’re fighting for,” Naseh said. “That’ll push you to go harder and I’m so happy we have this, that’s what has made our program so successful.”

 

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