VHSL GROUP AA
Region I Meet
Thursday, November 2nd
Loriella Park - 5K
Fredricksburg, VA
Meet summary:
In 2005, the Jamestown boys averaged 22 seconds faster from their Region I championship onto a fifth place in the AA state race with team averages of 17:16 at Loriella Park and 16:54 at Great Meadows creating the significant time difference between the two courses. Looking in even stronger in their 2006 regional championship with a 17:02 team average, Jamestown\'s expectations heading into the state meet should be even greater with confidence on past results to build on.
Coach Howard Towsend\'s Eagles (24 pts) won by 52 points over a distant second pace New Kent (76 pts). Jamestown had six All-Region performers including race champion Andrew Colley. The Jamestown sophomore posted one of the faster times posted at Loriella Park in recent history with a 16:26 clocking. Tabb junior William Mulherin was 12 seconds behind as regional runner-up in 16:38. Supporting Colley were teammates John Holt (3rd, 16:43), Andrew Mearns (6th, 17:11), Colin Mearns (8th, 17:18), Russell Hornsby (11th, 17:32), and Raymond Hutchinson (13th, 17:34) in the top 15.
The Bay Rivers District looks to have returned to its complete dominance of the region that it held in the early portion of the decade with the likes of the 2001 state champion Jamestown squad, state meet podium Lafayette squads, and several outstanding individuals such as Bryce Ruiz, Allen Carr, and Guy Alton. All four Bay Rivers District teams are advancing on to the state meet and 13 of the top 15 individuals came from the district. Only Battlefield District champion Chris Young of Chancellor (14th, 17:35) and Daniel Ache of James Monroe (15th, 17:38) kept the Region I representatives at the state meet from being entirely from the Bay Rivers District.
New Kent boys took second nearly three All-Region performers in Jeff Gibson (5th, 16:52), Matt Crump (12th, 17:33), and Eric Lawler (16th, 17:38).
Lafayette juniors Kenny Stuart (7th, 17:11) and Robert Webb (9th, 17:25) paced the Rams to a third place team showing with 103 points, while Poquoson\'s Jason Burleson taking fourth place in 16:47 helped lead the Islanders (4th, 128 pts) to state meet competition.
Lafayette senior Anastasia Abid duplicated her regional championshiop from a year ago with a nearly identical time. Abid won the Region I title in 2005 at Loriella Park in 19:34 and was two seconds off her time in 2006 a 19:36 as she won by 36 seconds over Riverbend junior Sarah Lasker (2nd, 20:12). Abid is a returning All-State runner from last fall in cross country.
However, Lasker was able help guide her Riverbend girls to the regional team championship as she had three teammates with her on the All-Region team in Lindsey Cart (6th, 20:47), Lyndsay Wilshaw (10th, 20:56), and Sara Ahmad (14th, 21:18).
With 48 points, Riverbend finished 22 points ahead of runners-up Chancellor, who had two individuals in the top ten with Battlefield District champion Elisa Zappas ((3rd, 20:29) and Leah Schubel (8th, 20:52).
The final two teams to qualify onto the state meet from the region came out of the Bay Rivers District with a Abid-led Lafayette team (3rd, 95 pts) and Grafton (4th, 98 pts). Grafton\'s top finisher was senior Bethany Rahall in fourth place at 20:35.
Region II Meet
Friday, November 4th
Panorama Farms - 5K
Charlottesville, VA
Region II Meet Photo Gallery - Full gallery posted. 658 photos total.
Region II Meet Audio Interviews - MileStat.com\'s Brandon Miles interviews Brentsville junior and #3 runner Ray Delgado, Louisa County senior and Region II runner-up Ehab Hoffman, and Brentsville senior and 3-time Region III champion Becky Stewart.
Meet Summary:
The Brentsville boys and girls were led by individual champions Adam Henken (15:48) and Becky Stewart (18:42) to team championships at the Region II Meet held Friday at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, Virginia. Stewart continued her dominance within Group AA\'s toughest region as she became a 3-time regional cross country champion.
Henken led the NTN SE #3 Brentsville boys (57 pts) to a 22 point win over a tough challenger in Western Albemarle (2nd, 79 pts) as last year\'s top two finishing state meet AA teams did battle. Brentsville averaged 16:23 on the 5K course with Henken, Henry Melius (8th, 16:22), Ray Delgado (12th, 16:27), Luke Watts (20th, 16:40), and Andrew Johnson (21st, 16:40). Last year, Northwest Region boys teams competing at Panorama Farms for their regional meet, averaged seven seconds faster at the state meet.
The Warriors of Western Albemarle put forth their best team performance of the year to keep within distance of the defending state champs with Kyle Satterwhite (5th, 16:17), James Howard-Smith (11th, 16:26), Tyler Stutzman (17th, 16:36), Carlos Gomez (27th, 16:56), and Chris Post (28th, 16:58).
The Brentsville girls had an easier going with 39 points as they were well ahead of second place John Handley (122 pts). Behind Stewart, the defending AA state champs got strong individual runs from Amelia Emerson (4th, 19:19), Maggie Gentry (7th, 19:26), Sarah Earman (14th, 19:51), and Julia Mitchell (19th, 20:18).
Louisa County senior Ehab Hoffman finished 101st out of 118 competitors at last year\'s Region II Meet in a time of 18:25. In the 2006 regional championship, Hoffman showed his incredible improvement in taking race runner-up honors to Henken with a personal best 5K time of 15:58.
The bright future of the region was shown with three sophomores in the top five with Turner Ashby\'s Alex Ott (3rd, 16:02), Louisa County\'s Thomas Baker (4th, 16:14), and Western Albemarle\'s Kyle Satterwhite (5th, 16:17).
Sherando and Louisa County boys will be joining Brentsville and Western Albemarle in next Saturday\'s state meet as full teams as it is the first time in many years that Louisa has qualified a team for state competition.
With Stewart graduating after this year, Millbrook sophomore Sullivan Parkes has set herself up as next year\'s early favorite to win the girls\' individual crown. Parkes gave Stewart all she could handle with a tougher challenge than expected as ran down the Brentsville senior in the final mile, but Stewart was able to repel her down the final stretch for the win. However, Parkes came away with a personal best time of 18:48 for second place honors. Millbrook had two in the top three with Parkes and senior Jillian Pollack (3rd, 19:09).
Only 23 points separated the second place from the fourth place team as the Handley girls garnered runner-up honors as senior Anna Cote led the team with a fifth place run of 19:24. Both Heritage (3rd, 130 pts) and Monticello (4th, 145 pts) girls are making their first trips as teams to the state meet.
Region III Meet Photo Gallery - Full gallery posted. 598 photos posted.
Region III Meet Audio Interview - MileStat.com\'s Brandon Miles interviews 3-time Region III champion Catherine White of Northside.
Meet Summary:
At the Region III Meet on Wednesday, the Blacksburg girls were impressive in the defending their regional championship, while the Jefferson Forest boys denied Blacksburg a sweep of the team titles with a strong team showing. In her final race at Green Hill Park, Northside senior Catherine White had a record breaking run with a season best time of 17:51. Blacksburg junior Peter Dorrell was able to break away from Cave Spring junior Tim Smith in another great duel for the boys\' individual title.
White made her final run at Green Hill Park memorable as she has raced at the 5K course plenty of the several years between the Fab 5K race in the summer, Knights Crossing Invite, Metro Invitational, and Region III Meets. The regional meet was held at Green Hill Park in 2004 when White won her first regional title in 18:40. The victory was very special for her then and look at how things have changed for her since then. Not only is she a minute faster than two years ago at Green Hill Park, but also has three All-American honors to her name. White took the first mile out on Wednesday in 5:21 and followed it up by hitting the two mile mark in 11:08. She faltered a little bit in the final mile, but still was able to break her own course (18:06) and meet record (18:50) with her final team as she gears up for another state championship and Foot Locker Nationals run.
For Blacksburg junior Peter Dorrell, Wednesday was his first regional cross country championships as just nearly missed the regional meet course record of 15:53 with his final time of 15:55. It will also be his last opportunity to win a Region III championship as Blacksburg will be moving to Region IV next year and a championship there will be no small feat with the likes of defending AA state champion Griff Graves returning as a junior this year.
It expects to be a loaded field up front next year in Region IV when you also add in Cave Spring junior Tim Smith, who gave Dorrell a challenge up until halfway through the race. Smith clocked in at 16:13 for regional runner-up honors.
With 57 points, the Jefferson Forest boys defeated pre-meet favorites in Blacksburg for the regional team championship as they were led to the line by returning All-State runner Matthew Kadak in fourth place at 16:24. Coach Jerome Loy had two more Cavaliers earn All-Region honors in the top 15 in Zach Smith (9th, 16:45) and Brandon Love (13th, 17:03).
Blacksburg was one of the most improved teams in the region going from eighth last year to second this year as the return of Dorrell from Japan as well as the improvement of others made a big difference. Blacksburg also had a trio of All-Region performers in Dorrell, Christian Viehland (7th, 16:42), and Matthew Howard (15th, 17:05).
Their female counterparts were looking sharp as the Blacksburg girls had a dominating team performance by 63 points and ahead of two teams in Jefferson Forest (2nd, 104 pts) and Pulaski County (3rd, 116 pts) that will be in strong contention to get on the podium at the state meet with a top three finish. The top ranked team in AA averaged 19:29 on the Green Hill Park course and was led by sophomore Allison Homer, who beat two very good runners in Heritage\'s Laura Rap (3rd, 18:50) and William Byrd\'s Alisha Royal (4th, 18:58) for regional runner-up honors to White in 18:36.
Blacksburg had three more finishers in the top ten with Laurel MacMillan (5th, 19:02), Cate Berenato (8th, 19:17), and Kathleen Stevens (9th, 19:59). It was a big race for Stevens as Blacksburg was running without one of their top four runners in Hannah Barrow and Stevens certainly picked up the slack and gives the Lady Bruins greater confidence heading into their state meet clash with defending champs Brentsville.
After suffering two close defeats earlier on in the season to Pulaski County, Jefferson Forest was able to knock off the AA #3 ranked team by 12 points in finishing second with 104 points. The Lady Cavaliers were led by two All-Region performers in Donna Bryant (13th, 20:09) and Cameron DeWitt (14th, 20:15).
Pulaski with 116 points had a strong individual finish from Sabrina Hall in sixth place at 19:08.
Region IV Meet
Friday, November 3rd
Tazewell HS - 3mi
Tazewell, VA
RESULTS: Brief Results