Friday State Meet Coverage (Group 6A, 5A, 4A)

Highlights and coverage from Friday's races (Group 6A, 5A, & 4A) at the 2013 VHSL State Cross Country Championships. Follow us on twitter @milestatdotcom and check the live results link on RunHigh.com for updates during Saturday's races.

 

 

 

 

 

6A Girls Summary: West Springfield senior and recent UNC committment Caroline Alcorta got things started on Friday at the VHSL State Cross Country Championships setting a torrid first mile just over 5:10 in the 6A girls' race en route to a course and meet record time of 17:13 at Great Meadow. She broke Sophie Chase's year old course record by 11 seconds. Alcorta will now prepare for Foot Locker South as one of the top returning individuals in the region and aspirations of not only becoming a two-time Foot Locker Nationals qualifier, but earning All-American honors in San Diego.

The Oakton program enjoyed a historic day with their girls' team winning their first state title ever in school history led by three All-State individuals in Allie Klimkiewicz (4th, 18:01), Hailey Dougherty (8th, 18:21), and Casey Kendall (14th, 18:29). After being in contention several years for the title over the past decade for state titles, but never having a state championship to show, the Oakton girls finally got over the hump with a group that includes only one senior in Dougherty and two freshmen among their top four in Casey Kendall and Leya Salis (24th, 18:56). It was a large margin of victory for their first state team crown as their tally of 55 points and team average of 18:33 at Great Meadow put them clear ahead of second place Washington-Lee (2nd, 100 pts) and Lake Braddock (3rd, 112 pts).

Both Washington-Lee and Lake Braddock ran well considering it was the first state meet appearance of the Washington-Lee girls and the Lake Braddock girls were missing one of their top runners in Katie Roche. Hannah Christen (2nd, 17:52) and Katy Kunc (3rd, 17:59) did their part up front for Lake Braddock finishing in between the two Foot Locker finalists Alcorta and Klimkiewicz. Washington-Lee also ahd two seniors lead them between Sarah Angell (5th, 18:18) and Jordan Selby (16th, 18:30).

The 6A North Region dominated the top 15 places with only South Region champion Megan Rebholz (9th, 18:22) of Colonial Forge able to earn All-State honors among all the 6A South runners. 

6A Boys Race Summary: Oakton senior Jack Stoney had to dig a little deeper than his 6A North Regional title last week after Nick Causey of Osbourn Park blazed a 4:42 first mile. Stoney was able to reel in Causey and also shake off Lake Braddock's Alex Corbett before winning the first state individual title by an Oakton boys' runner since Jim Hill in 1978 with a PR time of 15:24. After Louis Colson, Stoney might be Virginia's next best runner to challenge for a Foot Locker Nationals berth in two weeks.

Only four points incredibly separated the top four teams with the Chantilly boys able to win their second consecutive state title despite graduating their top three runners from last fall. Ryan McGorty (3rd, 15:45) and Dakota Lange (5th, 15:51) led the Chantilly boys to another first place showing in November at Great Meadow with top 5 individuals finishes as they have done in most races this fall as one of the best top two duos in Virginia, which will be returning next fall as both are juniors. Two key members from last year's state champion squad also played a part in seniors Adam Huff (25th, 16:11) and Peter Malander (27th, 16:12), while a 50th place run by junior Evan Compton was just enough in the 5th runner spot for Chantilly to hold onto their program's second state title in cross country.

With a total top five spread of 55 seconds and team average of 16:07, McGorty and Lange's races helped Chantilly hold off hard charging and tighter packed squads from Lake Braddock (2nd, 87 pts), James Robinson (3rd, 89 pts), and Battlefield (4th, 89 pts). Both Lake Braddock and James W. Robinson bounced back well from disappointing regional races. After state individual runner-up Corbett (2nd, 15:35), Lake Braddock boys had a 5 second burst of their remaining runners to come through the chute between Forrest Isenhour (26th, 16:12), Kevin Jones (28th, 16:13), Kevin Monogue (30th, 16:16), and Ben Fogg (31st, 16:17) to allow them to go from 5th in their regional meet to 2nd in the state meet. 

Robinson and Battlefield had matching team scores of 89 points, but the 29 second spread top 5 for Robinson and their depth beyond that group moved them into 3rd place on the 6th runner tiebreaker (actually their 7th runner was also ahead of Battlefield's 6th runner). Battlefield's top four impressed as they have done all fall with two All-State runners in Justin Wilkens (11th, 15:57) and Ryan Miller (15th, 15:58), while they had top 25 finishes from Aaron Hill (17th, 15:58) and Haben Zemichael (23rd, 16:07). Robinson had nearly 6 runners under 16:30 as Brendan O'Connell as the #6 runner in 44th place at 16:32 ended up being the deciding factor for them moving into third place, while Nathan Schulte had his best race of the season to lead the Rams with an All-State 10th place effort of 15:57.

The final straightaway essentially determined the entire top 5 pecking order with one runner either moving up or falling back a few places sealing a team's fate. Osbourn Park led the team scoring at the mile mark and two mile with Lake Braddock moving up on them, but Chantilly moved up the best going from fourth place by 15 points at the two mile mark to winning by two points.

Group 5A Girls Race Summary: Mills Godwin had their first team champions and individual state champions in the same meet with senior Katharine Benfer winning by 22 seconds with a 18:23 clocking, while 34 points was a comfortable buffer between her Godwin squad (1st, 73 pts) and the state runners-up from Thomas Jefferson (2nd, 107 pts). Godwin's top three runners among the top 7 places was too much for any team to overcome with Benfer, senior Hannah Bullen (6th, 18:58), and junior Sarah Goodrich (7th, 19:05). Bullen, improving her 5K time by over a minute from last fall, and Goodrich, making an instant impact in her first season of cross country, were huge difference makers in the state title run by the Godwin girls.

Benfer was challenged through the first two miles by Robert E. Lee's Bailey Kolonich (unfortunately did not finish) as they split around 11:47-11:48 but pulled away in the last mile to follow up her All-State finish in Group AAA last fall with a first state title this fall. Mountain View junior Jordan Angers rose from the chase pack to be the state 5A runner-up after a 3rd place regional meet finish last week and break 19 minutes for the first time in a 18:45 performance.

The Thomas Jefferson just missed becoming regional champions last week in 5A North Regional as they trailed Tuscarora by one point. Haley Stumvoll saw her older sisters as part of state champion squads previously at Bishop O'Connell and the junior looks to be building TJ into a state champion contending squad for 2014 after leading her team to a state runner-up finish (107 pts) in 2013. The TJ girls were the only team among the top 5 squads in 5A that did not have a spread over 2 minutes and rather put together a pack spread out only over 44 seconds with Stumvoll (15th, 19:38) as the lone All-State individual on their team.

Group 5A Boys Race Summary: A big day for former Central Region schools who previously had not much of a past state meet success. The Deep Run boys followed up their fellow former Colonial District team in the Mills Godwin girls in the previous race by becoming state cross country team champions for the first time as well. Deep Run boys were stout upfront with nearly three All-State individuals in Matthew Novak (11th, 15:49), Alexander Varon (12th, 16:13), and Grayson Reid (16th, 16:18). Rounding out the back end of their top five to secure the title were Tyler Krickovic (37th, 16:56) and Tom Corbitt (44th, 17:04).

Stone Bridge boys (94 pts) were close runners-up as only four points separated them from Deep Run (90 pts), but seemed to be just a few places behind in matching up with each Deep Run top 5 runner with the exception of the #4 spot. Seniors Brady Guertin (10th, 16:09) and Tyler Brodie (15th, 16:18) led their school in their first state meet team appearance with All-State races, while sophomore Andrew Matson dipped under 16:30 to finish just inside the top 20 as Stone Bridge's #3 finisher.

The state's top ranked and best runner this season in Thomas Edison senior Louis Colson ran with the field through the first mile before making his move to take the lead for good at the halfway point. Colson continued to grow the distance between himself and talented group of pre-race challengers in Albemarle's Ryan Thomas, Atlee's Nathaniel Hall, Deep Run's Matthew Novak, and George C. Marshall's Mackenzie Haight among others. Colson ended up winning in a time of 15:06, which ranks him fourth fastest all-time in state meet history over that last 20 years while held at Great Meadow behind only Sean McGorty,

Alan Webb, and this past weekend's NCAA Division 1 Southeast Regional runner-up Andrew Colley. Albemarle's Ryan Thomas won the battle for second among a great list of established runners in the state as he rallied from being as far back as sixth place in the final mile to finish just ahead of 5A South Regional champ Nathaniel Hall (3rd, 15:38) of Atlee with a 15:36 runner-up performance for last winter's Group AAA 1000 meter state champ.

Group 4A Girls Race Summary: It was day of expected winners living up to their strong pre-meet odds to become state champions with the only upset of the day coming from a small-framed freshmen from E.C. Glass in Libby Davidson able to kick pass 4A pre-race favorite Erin Saunders of Jefferson Forest with both runners clocking PR's with a remarkable 42 second time drop by Davidson with a 18:28 victory to be arguably the biggest surprise of the day.

The sting of the loss to another local runner and finishing as a state runner-up was mitigated for the junior Saunders as she got to enjoy and celebrate with her Jefferson Forest teammates winning their first state title since 2001 and withstand challengers E.C. Glass (2nd, 85 pts) and Midlothian (3rd, 93 pts). The Jefferson Forest girls tallied a total score of 67 points with a solid top four nearly among the top 20 places between Saunders (2nd, 18:32), Madelynn Knight (11th, 19:15), Alyssa Shupe (16th, 19:26), and Abby May (21st, 19:48). With only one senior among their top five in fifth runner Carsen Wilkerson (36th, 20:36), Jefferson Forest girls are in good position to repeat in 2014.

Great day for Lynchburg area running with Jefferson Forest and E.C. Glass girls taking the top two team trophies in the Group 4A to keep Midlothian off the podium (VHSL is only recognizing top two teams with trophies and awards podium presentation in new 6 class system). E.C. Glass girls had no seniors among their top five, so a good cross-town rivalry has developed for next year and beyond in 4A classification between these two schools.

Group 4A Boys Race Summary: A 1-2-3 finish from Tommy Mulroy (1st, 15:39), Evan Benjamin (2nd, 15:46), and Collin Hahn (3rd, 15:48) all but sealed a 4A state team title for the Midlothian boys as their team average of 16:04 also matches up well with the top teams in the 6A race earlier. It was the fastest team average on the day and will be interesting to see how Midlothian comes out in the state meet results merge after day two is completed on Saturday. Individual state champion Mulroy is the only senior among Midlothian's top 6, which had four All-State finishers adding in sophomore Randy Hahn (8th, 16:22) and a good race from fifth runner Zack Wilson (22nd, 16:18). Midlothian could be able to start a streak of state titles in their new classification with Mulroy to be their only major graduation loss from this year's team. 

Millbrook (2nd, 76 pts) and Fauquier (3rd, 125 pts) were distant second and third place teams coming out of the 4A North Region with Millbrook boys looking like the second best team in the field from start to finish keeping the majority of their top 5 in the top 25 throughout the race, while the Fauquier boys made up a lot of ground after being in 9th place at the mile mark. Millbrook was led by a freshmen in Alec Schrank, whose All-State 6th place finish of 16:10 should stand up as the fastest time among 9th graders in all races over the weekend. Fauquier had an amazing time spread of only 13 seconds for their top 5 runners, which was effective moving up together the entire race.

 

Race Results:

Race Videos:

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Photo Galleries:

VHSL Group 6A Girls Individual State Champion
Caroline Alcorta (West Springfield) 17:13

VHSL Group 6A Girls - Top 15 All-State Individuals

 

Place Athlete   Team Result Points
1 Alcorta, Caroline 12 West Springfield 17:13.00 1
2 Christen, Hannah 12 Lake Braddock 17:52.00 2
3 Kunc, Katy 12 Lake Braddock 17:59.00 3
4 Klimkiewicz, Allie 11 Oakton 18:01.00 4
5 Angell, Sarah 12 Washington-Lee High School 18:18.00 5
6 Freix, Sara 10 Westfield 18:20.00 --
7 Cisler, Saige 9 Battlefield 18:20.00 6
8 Dougherty, Hailey 12 Oakton 18:21.00 7
9 Rebholz, Megan 12 Colonial Forge 18:22.00 8
10 Hawvermale, Xaveria 11 Chantilly 18:23.00 --
11 Genuario, Katie 12 West Potomac 18:24.00 --
12 Swaak, Amanda 11 James Madison 18:28.00 --
13 Berman, Lauren 11 James W. Robinson 18:29.00 9
14 Kendall, Casey 9 Oakton 18:29.00 10
15 Everly, Jillian 11 Osbourn Park 18:30.00 --

 

 

VHSL Group 6A Girls Team State Champions
Oakton 55 pts (18:34 average, 0:59 spread)

VHSL Group 6A Girls - Top 3 Teams

Team Scores
Place Team Points Scorers Times
1 Oakton 55 4+7+10+16+18 (26+41) 0:58 1-5 Split | 18:33 Avg
2 Washington-Lee High School 100 5+11+23+27+34 (35+55) 1:29 1-5 Split | 19:06 Avg
3 Lake Braddock 112 2+3+15+42+50 (52+68) 2:29 1-5 Split | 19:01 Avg

 

 

VHSL Group 6A Boys Individual State Champion
Jack Stoney (Oakton) 15:24

VHSL Group 6A Boys - Top 15 All-State Individuals

Place Athlete   Team Result Points
1 Stoney, John 12 Oakton 15:24.00 1
2 Corbett, Alex 11 Lake Braddock 15:35.00 2
3 McGorty, Ryan 11 Chantilly 15:45.00 3
4 Causey, Nick 12 Osbourn Park 15:49.00 4
5 Lange, Dakota 11 Chantilly 15:51.00 5
6 Jones, Alec 12 South County High School 15:53.00 --
7 Calem, Matthew 12 James Madison 15:54.00 --
8 Dunn, Bobby 11 Centreville 15:56.00 --
9 Wiley-Miller, Giavanni 12 Landstown High School 15:57.00 6
10 Schulte, Nathan 12 James W. Robinson 15:57.00 7
11 Wilkens, Justin 12 Battlefield 15:57.00 8
12 Pace, Johnny 11 Westfield 15:57.00 --
13 Abbatiello, Joey 12 Stafford High School 15:57.00 9
14 Buck, Owen 10 West Springfield 15:57.00 --
15 Miller, Ryan 12 Battlefield 15:58.00 10

 

VHSL Group 6A Boys Team State Champions
Chantilly 85 pts (16:08 average, 0:56 spread)

VHSL Group 6A Boys - Top 3 Teams

 

Team Scores
Place Team Points Scorers Times
1 Chantilly 85 3+5+18+20+39 (71+77) 0:55 1-5 Split | 16:07 Avg
2 Lake Braddock 87 2+19+21+22+23 (53+61) 0:42 1-5 Split | 16:06 Avg
3 James W. Robinson 89 7+11+16+26+29 (34+43) 0:29 1-5 Split | 16:09 Avg


 

VHSL Group 5A Girls Individual State Champion
Katharine Benfer (Mills Godwin) 18:23

VHSL Group 5A Girls - Top 15 All-State Individuals

Place Athlete   Team Result Points
1 Benfer*, Katharine 12 Mills Godwin 18:23.00 1
2 Angers, Jordan 11 Mountain View 18:45.00 2
3 Wasko, Anna 11 Tuscarora High School (VA) 18:49.00 3
4 Martingayle, Doria 9 Princess Anne High School 18:51.00 4
5 Hutton*, Elizabeth 11 Manchester High School 18:56.00 5
6 Bullen*, Hannah 12 Mills Godwin 18:58.00 6
7 Goodrich*, Sarah 11 Mills Godwin 19:05.00 7
8 Grasberger *, Katt 12 Atlee 19:15.00 8
9 Bellows*, Abby 11 Hermitage 19:19.00 --
10 Brennan, Allison 11 Briar Woods 19:31.00 --
11 McElfresh *, Maddie 11 Clover Hill 19:35.00 --
12 Dillistin, Sarah 12 Potomac Falls 19:35.00 9
13 Dumm, Caitlin 10 Broad Run 19:37.00 --
14 Brown, Ashley 10 Henrico 19:38.00 --
15 Stumvoll, Haley 11 Thomas Jefferson S&T 19:38.00 10

 

VHSL Group 5A GIrls Team State Champions
Mills Godwin 73 pts (19:23 average, 2:08 spread)

VHSL Group 5A Girls - Top 3 Teams

 

Team Scores
Place Team Points Scorers Times
1 Mills Godwin 73 1+6+7+25+34 (44+56) 2:08 1-5 Split | 19:26 Avg
2 Thomas Jefferson S&T 107 10+18+24+27+28 (32+71) 0:44 1-5 Split | 20:07 Avg
3 Tuscarora High School (VA) 125 3+13+17+45+47 (55+73) 2:22 1-5 Split | 20:12 Avg

 

 

VHSL Group 5A Boys Individual State Champion
Louis Colson (Thomas Edison) 15:06

VHSL Group 5A Boys - Top 15 All-State Individuals

Place Athlete   Team Result Points
1 Colson, Louis 12 Thomas Edison 15:06.00 1
2 Thomas, Ryan 12 Albemarle 15:36.00 2
3 Hall *, Nathaniel 12 Atlee 15:38.00 3
4 Novak*, Matthew 11 Deep Run 15:49.00 4
5 Amare, Biruk 12 Robert E. Lee (Springfield) 15:51.00 --
6 Haight, Mackenzie 12 George C. Marshall 16:00.00 --
7 Ellington, Micah 12 Hickory High School 16:02.00 5
8 Eason, Andrew 12 Hickory High School 16:03.00 6
9 Adam*, Paul 12 Lee-Davis 16:06.00 7
10 Guertin, Brady 12 Stone Bridge 16:09.00 8
11 Hughes, Ryan 12 Briar Woods 16:12.00 --
12 Varon*, Alexander 12 Deep Run 16:13.00 9
13 Gentry, Zach 11 Albemarle 16:14.00 10
14 Celsa, Matt 12 Potomac Falls 16:17.00 --
15 Brodie, Tyler 12 Stone Bridge 16:18.00 11

 

VHSL Group 5A Boys Team State Champions
Deep Run 90 pts (16:28, 1:15 average)

VHSL Group 5A Boys - Top 3 Teams

Team Scores
Place Team Points Scorers Times
1 Deep Run 90 4+9+12+30+35 (65+83) 1:15 1-5 Split | 16:28 Avg
2 Stone Bridge 94 8+11+14+22+39 (56+75) 1:00 1-5 Split | 16:34 Avg
3 Albemarle 107 2+10+18+33+44 (58+68) 1:39 1-5 Split | 16:32 Avg

 

VHSL Group 4A Girls Individual State Champion
Libby Davidson (E.C. Glass) 18:28

VHSL Group 4A Girls - Top 15 All-State Individuals

Place Athlete   Team Result Points
1 Davidson, Libby 9 E.C. Glass 18:28.00 1
2 Saunders, Erin 11 Jefferson Forest 18:32.00 2
3 Gillies, Emma 10 Woodgrove 18:39.00 3
4 Sperry *, Katie 12 Glen Allen High School 18:41.00 4
5 Whitt*, Brittany 12 Midlothian High School 19:00.00 5
6 Douma, Nicole 12 Fluvanna County 19:04.00 6
7 Bloxom, Rachel 11 Grafton High School 19:07.00 7
8 Bowman, Izzy 9 Loudoun County 19:08.00 8
9 Green, Miranda 12 King George 19:12.00 9
10 Mackenzie, Georgie 10 Heritage (Leesburg) 19:13.00 --
11 Knight, Madelynn 9 Jefferson Forest 19:15.00 10
12 Dahimene, Nadia 10 Millbrook 19:16.00 --
13 Harrison, Nicole 11 Dominion 19:20.00 --
14 Personius, Ashden 12 John Handley 19:22.00 --
15 Carrington, Kate 11 E.C. Glass 19:25.00 11

 

VHSL Group 4A Girls Team State Champions
Jefferson Forest 67 pts (19:30 average, 1:54 spread)

VHSL Group 4A Girls - Top 3 Teams

Team Scores
Place Team Points Scorers Times
1 Jefferson Forest 67 2+10+12+16+27 (29+53) 1:54 1-5 Split | 19:29 Avg
2 E.C. Glass 85 1+11+20+22+31 (69+70) 2:10 1-5 Split | 19:45 Avg
3 Midlothian High School 93 5+13+18+24+33 (39+45) 1:43 1-5 Split | 19:52 Avg

 

VHSL Group 4A Boys Individual State Champion
Tommy Mulroy (Midlothian) 15:39

VHSL Group 4A Boys - Top 15 All-State Individuals

Place Athlete   Team Result Points
1 Mulroy*, Tommy 12 Midlothian High School 15:39.00 1
2 Benjamin, Evan 11 Midlothian High School 15:46.00 2
3 Hahn*, Collin 11 Midlothian High School 15:48.00 3
4 Kieffer, Baron 11 Tabb 15:56.00 4
5 Seufer, Peter 11 E.C. Glass 16:02.00 5
6 Schrank, Alec 9 Millbrook 16:10.00 6
7 Davis *, Stanley 12 Glen Allen High School 16:16.00 7
8 Hahn*, Randy 10 Midlothian High School 16:22.00 8
9 Covert, Warren Riley 11 Charlottesville 16:24.00 --
10 Lancaster, Trent 12 Dominion 16:29.00 9
11 Cox-Philyaw, Tyler 10 Millbrook 16:31.00 10
12 Blenkush, Severin 11 Tabb 16:32.00 11
13 Maclean, Stephen 12 Dominion 16:32.00 12
14 Loria-MacNamara, Dylan 10 Grafton High School 16:33.00 13
15 Cromwell, Josh 11 Woodgrove 16:33.00 14

 

VHSL Group 4A Boys Team State Champions
Midlothian 32 pts (16:05 average, 1:08 spread)

VHSL Group 4A Boys - Top 3 Teams

Team Scores
Place Team Points Scorers Times
1 Midlothian High School 32 1+2+3+8+18 (50+65) 1:08 1-5 Split | 16:04 Avg
2 Millbrook 76 6+10+19+20+21 (23+83) 0:43 1-5 Split | 16:39 Avg
3 Fauquier 125 22+24+25+26+28 (30+51) 0:13 1-5 Split | 17:01 Avg