Red Division Report:
Christiansburg took home first place trophies and first place medals at the Highlander Invitational, which was held at the Dedmond Center Certified 5K course on the Radford University campus. Both the boys and girls teams took the championship trophy of the Red Division back to Blue Demon country. The Red Division was for large schools or for fast teams. Christiansburg may not be large, but they are very fast. If there was any doubt who was favored to win in the newly formed River Ridge District it went away today with a dominating performance for a team.
Kirsten Hagen, a senior from Christiansburg, tied the course record of 18:40, which was set in 1995 by Sarah Hendricks of Blacksburg. Hagen was never challenged as she defeated her nearest competitor, Brittany Killough (20:43), by over two minutes. Christiansburg girls finished 1st, 5th, 7th, 24th, and 30th to take team honors with 67 points. Cave Spring was runner-up with 82 points. Blacksburg finished 3rd with 108 points. Rounding out the top 10 in the Red Division race were: Amanda Moore (21:06) of Rustburg, Nikki Harvey (21:15) of Cave Spring, Alison Smith (21:17) of Christiansburg, Kimberly Begley (21:19) of Abingdon, Kate Payne (21:20) of Christiansburg, Claire Lenveil (21:35) of Abingdon, Michelle Bice (21:42) of E.C. Glass, and Meredith Storton (21:43) of E.C. Glass.
Justin Hatch, a senior, and John Horst, a sophomore, from Christiansburg put on a little move near the first mile mark that separated the group of five that were running together. Hatch and Horst continued to push their margin as Donnie Mikels of Rustburg gave chase. At the two-mile mark, Hatch and Horst came through at 10:20, with Mikels about 10 seconds back and Adam Dickerson of Franklin County and Lance McDaniel of Pulaski County following as they came through together at 10:35. It was a two man race the rest of the way as the two dynamic Christiansburg runners left the field in the dust and ran shoulder to shoulder until the stronger Hatch sprinted to the line just ahead of the impressive 14 year old Horst. (Hatch's time of 16:35 was the 7th fastest time ever reported on this certified 5K course that has been hosting this event sine 1989. Horst's time of 16:37 was the 9th fastest time on the Dedmond Center course.) Mikels out kicked the trio to take third in 17:09. Dickerson finished in 17:12, and McDaniel coasted across in 17:17. The next pack of runners were even closer to each other than the top five as places 6th through 10th were only eight seconds apart. Rounding out the top ten is: Patterson Wilhelm (17:43) of E.C. Glass, Tanner Cummings (17:44) of Abingdon, Will Frye (17:46.24) of Pulaski County, Jesse Hutcheson (17:46.80) of Christiansburg, and Justin Adams (17:51) of Bassett. Christiansburg took the team honors with E.C. Glass placing 2nd and Garfield finishing 3rd.
White Division Report:
In the white or small school division, Katie Lamb (20:36) of Roanoke Catholic led wire to wire and held off her nearest rival, Megan Edwards (20:55), of Carroll County to win. Roanoke Catholic also took the team honors. Unlike the other races, the team standings were close as Floyd County (70 points) finished a close second to Roanoke Catholic's 65 points. Patrick Henry Glade Spring (125 points) took the 3rd place trophy. 146 girls and 20 teams competed in the white division girl's race. The rest of the top 10 finishers in the white division girl's race are: Ashley Osborne (21:04) of John Battle, Maggie Lester (21:17) of Patrick Henry Glade Spring, Janice King (21:20) of Grayson County, Lori Crotts (21:22) of Craig County, Kara Rogers (22:00) of Floyd County, Jennifer Doughman (22:01) of Grayson County, Carrie Nelson (22:02) of Grayson County, and Rachel Chitwood (22:12) of Pulaski County. In the boys race, Trey Worrell (18:01) of Radford led from start to finish as he kept a safe distance from the field which was bunched together for most of the race. The race for 2nd was fun to watch as Jeremy Szechenyi (18:26) of Roanoke Catholic, Brennan O'Quinn (18:28) of Patrick Henry Glade Spring, and Jack Morgan (18:29) of Patrick Henry Glade Spring finished within 3 seconds of each other. Other runners finishing in the top 10 are: Hugo Soto (18:40) of Carroll County, Will Klos (18:42) of Roanoke Catholic, Chris Grubb (18:43) of George Wythe, Dominic Nicastro (18:46) of Virginia High, Charlie Counts (18:48) of Patrick Henry Glade Spring, and Bryan Scism (18:50) of Garfield. Patrick Henry Glade Spring took the first place trophy while Roanoke Catholic claimed 2nd, and George Wythe took 3rd.
In the developmental races, Pete Dorrell, younger brother of John and Hanna Dorrell, of Blacksburg won the 2-mile race with an outstanding time of 10:56. It appears that the Dorrell's may be saving the best for last. Sabrina Hall of Pulaski County took first in the girls with a time of 13:03. Coach Goff of Pulaski County is developing young talent as well.