Results and coverage from Monday's Virginia Catholic Schools State XC Championships at Newport News Park in Newport News. Peninsula Catholic swept the team titles as well as individual titles with Molly McKenna (18:57) and Philip Harpen (16:31). Race videos, photo gallery, and interviews to be uploaded later tonight.
Boys Team Champions
Peninsula Catholic 32 pts
Boys Runners-up Team
Paul VI 59 pts
| Boys Team Scores | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Team | Points | Scorers | Times | ||
| 1 | Peninsula Catholic | 32 | 1+2+4+11+14 (21+24) | 1:26 1-5 Split | 17:14 Avg | ||
| 2 | Paul VI Catholic | 59 | 6+10+12+15+16 (17+18) | 0:38 1-5 Split | 17:43 Avg | ||
| 3 | Pope John Paul the Great Catholic High School | 89 | 5+9+23+25+27 (28+32) | 1:39 1-5 Split | 18:15 Avg | ||
| 4 | Bishop Ireton | 103 | 8+13+19+30+33 (34+35) | 2:22 1-5 Split | 18:32 Avg | ||
| 5 | Walsingham Academy | 105 | 3+20+22+29+31 (47+51) | 2:25 1-5 Split | 18:39 Avg | ||
| 6 | Seton School | 164 | 7+36+37+41+43 (48+49) | 2:49 1-5 Split | 19:31 Avg | ||
| 7 | Bishop Sullivan | 201 | 26+39+42+44+50 (53+55) | 2:19 1-5 Split | 20:06 Avg | ||
| 8 | Benedictine | 221 | 38+40+45+46+52 (54+56) |
1:24 1-5 Split | 20:29 Avg |
||
Boys Individual Champion
Philip Harpen (Peninsula Catholic) 16:31
Varsity Boys Top 15 Individuals
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harpen, Philip | Peninsula Catholic | 16:31.00 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Weidman, Max | Peninsula Catholic | 16:53.00 | 2 | ||
| 3 | Grimson, Jack | Walsingham Academy | 17:09.00 | 3 | ||
| 4 | White, Collin | Peninsula Catholic | 17:14.00 | 4 | ||
| 5 | Tully, Sean | Pope John Paul the Great Catholic High School | 17:19.00 | 5 | ||
| 6 | Kocis, Matt | Paul VI Catholic | 17:20.00 | 6 | ||
| 7 | Jackson, Tim | Seton School | 17:23.00 | 7 | ||
| 8 | Roach, Duke | Bishop Ireton | 17:26.00 | 8 | ||
| 9 | Gallant, Andre | Pope John Paul the Great Catholic High School | 17:31.00 | 9 | ||
| 10 | Litman, George | Paul VI Catholic | 17:39.00 | 10 | ||
| 11 | Taleghani, Eric | Peninsula Catholic | 17:39.00 | 11 | ||
| 12 | Stepka, Andrew | Paul VI Catholic | 17:45.00 | 12 | ||
| 13 | Ryan, John Paul | Bishop Ireton | 17:51.00 | 13 | ||
| 14 | Duregger, Ryan | Peninsula Catholic | 17:57.00 | 14 | ||
| 15 | Revor, Nathan | Paul VI Catholic | 17:57.00 | 15 | ||
Girls Team Champions
Peninsula Catholic 49 pts
Girls Runner-up Team
Paul VI 63 pts
| Girls Team Scores | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Team | Points | Scorers | Times | ||
| 1 | Peninsula Catholic | 49 | 1+3+11+12+22 (23+30) | 3:13 1-5 Split | 20:43 Avg | ||
| 2 | Paul VI Catholic | 63 | 7+9+14+16+17 (19+20) | 1:14 1-5 Split | 21:15 Avg | ||
| 3 | Bishop Ireton | 84 | 5+15+18+21+25 (31+41) | 2:36 1-5 Split | 21:36 Avg | ||
| 4 | Bishop Sullivan | 89 | 6+10+13+28+32 (33+36) | 2:37 1-5 Split | 21:45 Avg | ||
| 5 | Walsingham Academy | 129 | 4+27+29+34+35 (37+47) | 3:17 1-5 Split | 22:26 Avg | ||
| 6 | Pope John Paul the Great Catholic High School | 138 | 2+24+26+40+46 (48) | 5:21 1-5 Split | 22:39 Avg | ||
| 7 | Seton School | 197 | 8+42+43+51+53 (54+55) | 7:23 1-5 Split | 24:46 Avg | ||
| 8 | St. Gertrude | 215 | 38+39+44+45+49 (50+52) | 1:20 1-5 Split | 24:23 Avg | ||
Girls Individual Champion
Molly McKenna (Peninsula Catholic) 18:57
Varsity Boys Top 15 Individuals
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McKenna, Molly | Peninsula Catholic | 18:57.00 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Gallant, Denise | Pope John Paul the Great Catholic High School | 19:21.00 | 2 | ||
| 3 | Hunnicutt, Martine | Peninsula Catholic | 19:44.00 | 3 | ||
| 4 | Pieri, Reilly | Walsingham Academy | 20:01.00 | 4 | ||
| 5 | Lohrer, Maggie | Bishop Ireton | 20:04.00 | 5 | ||
| 6 | Frazier, Hannah | Bishop Sullivan | 20:24.00 | 6 | ||
| 7 | Bucaro, Katie | Paul VI Catholic | 20:27.00 | 7 | ||
| 8 | Lucas, Geni | Seton School | 20:54.00 | 8 | ||
| 9 | Rosini, Caroline | Paul VI Catholic | 21:07.00 | 9 | ||
| 10 | Durkin, Kaitlynn | Bishop Sullivan | 21:07.00 | 10 | ||
| 11 | Miner, Grace | Peninsula Catholic | 21:20.00 | 11 | ||
| 12 | Aungst, Becky | Peninsula Catholic | 21:24.00 | 12 | ||
| 13 | McGee, Casey | Bishop Sullivan | 21:25.00 | 13 | ||
| 14 | Framstad, Catherine | Paul VI Catholic | 21:26.00 | 14 | ||
| 15 | Beineke, Virginia | Bishop Ireton | 21:26.00 | 15 | ||
Meet Summary: The Peninsula Catholic cross country program enjoyed a day of winning to start their week at Monday's Virginia Catholic Schools State Championships. Paul VI posed as formidable challenge and competition on both sides to the host school at Newport News Park, but Peninsula Catholic was able to hold them off to claim the team champion trophies.
As a senior, Molly McKenna won her first major championship title in cross country as she set a torrid pace in the first mile well under 6 minutes and continued to maintain a big lead en route to a 18:57 victory. Peninsula Catholic's McKenna ran under 19 minutes for the first time in a recent Wednesday meet at Grafton High School for the first time and stands in excellent postion to race for the Division 2 state title at Woodberry Forest in two weeks. McKenna was remarkable 2 minutes faster than her 2012 race in the same when she placed 9th overall with a time of 20:58.
One of McKenna's top competition in Division 2 also competed on Monday at the Catholic State Meet in Pope John Paul the Great Catholic junior Denise Gallant. Gallant trailed behind McKenna's teammate Martine Hunnicutt (3rd, 19:44) for much of the race before moving up well in the last mile to distance herself from Hunnicut and close the gap on McKenna with a runner-up PR performance of 19:21. Gallant had struggled with injuries in the past including missing the state meet last year a sophomore and has put together a healthy season for once this fall and it has given her the opportunity to show the potential that she flashed as a freshmen with a 20:28 performance at the Catholic School State Meet in 2011.
The Peninsula Catholic girls have always thrived on strong pack running, but now have a strong front runner in McKenna and a formidable #2 in Martine Hunnicutt to make up for their spread that was over 3 minutes. Grace Miner (11th, 21:20) and Becky Aungst (12th, 21:24) joined teammates McKenna and Hunnicutt as top 15 medalists to help them go from third to first place in the team standings from last year's meet and defeat last year's champions Paul VI (63 pts) with a team score of 49 points and team average of 20:43.
The runners-up from Paul VI were led by Katie Bucaro (7th, 20:27), who became an All-State Catholic Schools performer for the fourth time as she has been a top 10 finisher every year in this meet since her freshmen year. A big time drop for Bucaro in less than 2 months after starting her season with a 22:20 performance on the same course at the Newport News Invitational. Finishing in between Bucaro and the Peninsula Catholic duo were last year's race champion Hannah Frazier of Bishop Sullivan (6th, 20:24), Bishop Ireton's Maggie Lohrer (5th, 20:04), and Walsingham Academy's Reilly Pieri (4th, 20:02).
Philip Harpen will certainly see stronger competition in his next two championship season races at the TCIS Championships next Friday and VIS State Meet in two weeks, but he looked fit and in great control as he motored through the 2 loop course at Newport News Park on Monday with a 16:31 victory. Despite winning the VIS Division 2 state individual title in cross country last fall, Harpen lost the Catholic School state title by 3 seconds last year and that defeat certainly made taking first today even more enjoyable for the Peninsula Catholic senior. Next challenge for Harpen is going for the win at the TCIS meet next week at Bells Mill Park, which he will face off with sub 4:20 miler Grant Wiggins of Norfolk Academy.
The Peninsula Catholic boys went from fourth place in last year's meet to first in this year's meet thanks to a 1-2 finish from Harpen and sophomore teammate Max Weidman (2nd, 16:53). Weidman is competing in his first season at Peninsula Catholic after transferring from York High School over the summer. Weidman ran 10:20 for 3200 meters last year as a freshmen at York and qualified for the Group AA State Indoor Meet in the event. Weidman was able to separate from the rest of field on Monday along with his teammate Harpen as at one point, Peninsula Catholic looked to possibly sweep the top 3 places with Collin White (4th, 17:14), but Walsingham Academy's Jack Grimson was able to break them up with a 3rd place finish of 17:09.
The front running from Peninsula Catholic (32 pts) was too much for the well-packed Paul VI squad to overcome and repeat as champions. Paul VI (59 pts) had only a 38 second spread for their top five, but their top finisher Matt Kocis (6th, 17:20) was behind Peninsula Catholic's #3 White to put them in too much of an early hole in the team scoring.
Meet Results:
Race Videos:
Photo Gallery by Brandon Miles (to be uploaded by Tuesday)
Video Interviews:
- Molly McKenna (Peninsula Catholic)
- Denise Gallant (Pope John Paul)
- Philip Harpen (Peninsula Catholic)
- Max Weidman (Peninsula Catholic)