The midway point of the high school cross country season is upon us, and as team’s begin gearing up for the post season, this Saturday’s Albemarle Invitational will serve as a great indicator of where teams stand at this pivotal point of the season. Always a competitive meet, this year is no different as team’s from all around the state will be making their way to Panorama Farms this Saturday afternoon to compete against the best Central Virginia has to offer. The meet is always especially meaningful to all the local runners as it is the last time all the Central Virginia schools will compete against each other before they commence on their respective post season journey. To give an idea of the depth of local talent racing this weekend, 15 of the 16 boys and 15 of the 16 girls ranked in this week’s All-Central Virginia cross county poll will be competing along with all of the top 5 boys teams and 5 of the top 6 girls teams in the poll.
The overall boys team race is looking like it will be a battle of 5A schools as three of the top four teams in the 5A classification will be lining up to race. The host school, Albemarle, who is currently ranked 2nd in the 5A classification and 1st in the All-Central Virginia cross country poll, is coming off it’s best meet in year’s as they finished an impressive second in the “B” race at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, NC this past Saturday. The Patriot’s top five runners all ran huge season’s best to average 16:30. Stone Bridge, ranked 3rd in 5A, and Tuscarora, ranked 4th in 5A, will also be tough to beat as both teams are coming off recent victories of their own. Stone Bridge, last year’s runner up at the 5A state meet, won the “A” race at the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational in New Jersey two weeks ago, and Tuscarora won last week’s Loudoun County Public School Championship. And not to be overlooked is last year’s 5A state champion, Deep Run, who will be looking to prove that they are still the team to beat in the 5A classification even after losing four seniors from last year’s state champion squad. Rounding out the team favorites is Ocean Lakes, who is currently the 6th ranked team in the state’s largest 6A classification.
Other local teams who will be looking to make a splash in the team competition will be the boys from Western Albemarle and Fork Union, who are both ranked 2nd in this week’s All-Central Virginia cross country poll. The Warriors will be kept in the running for the team title by the front running tandem of Gannon Willcutts and Trevor Stutzman. FUMA’s top three runners, brother’s Alex and Peter Lomong and freshman Julian Yescas, can stack up against any other team’s top three which will be a huge advantage for them.
On the girls side, Ocean Lakes looks to be the heavy favorite as they are coming off a major victory at the very competitive Octoberfest Invitational this past weekend. They are currently ranked in the top 5 in the entire state and will be looking to follow up their big win last weekend with another major invitational victory. Looking to pull off the upset and giving us a great preview of the 5A state championship, will be five of the top seven ranked teams in the 5A classification. These teams are Tuscarora (1st in 5A), Albemarle (2nd), Hickory (3rd), Stone Bridge (6th), and Deep Run (7th). Albemarle, like their male counterparts, are coming off their best meet in years at last weekend’s Great American Cross Country Festival. Led by five freshman and two sophomores, the Lady Patriots averaged an impressive 20:04 through their top five runners to knock Western Albemarle off their long-standing post as the area’s top girls team. The Warriors, who were dealt a heavy blow by losing one of their top three runners to season ending knee surgery in sophomore Averi Witt, will be looking to challenge for the team victory as well as they will be led by their top two runners, Annie Taylor and Chance Masloff, who have PRs, personal records, that can compete with any of the top runners in the field.
The top individual contenders for the boys race are senior Zach Gentry of Albemarle, senior Matthew Novak of Deep Run, junior Fitsum Seyoum of Tuscarora, junior Gannon Willcutts of Western Albemarle, and junior Alex Lomong of Fork Union. Novak (ranked #2 in 5A) is a multiple time state champion in track and field and is coming off multiple top two finishes this season, including a four tenths of a second victory over Willcutts (#5 in 3A), also a state champion in track, at the Maymont X-Country Festival. Gentry (#1 in 5A) has the top season’s best time in the entire field as he ran 15:35, a 28 second PR, last weekend to win the “B” race at Great American. Seyoum (#3 in 5A) is asserting himself, along with Novak and Gentry, as a contender for the 5A individual championship in what is his first cross country season ever. Impressively, Seyoum was able to dip under the 16 minute barrier in his third cross country race. Lomong has yet to run a full 5k this season but has shown he is ready to compete with anyone after his 15:23 victory last week on Fork Union’s three mile course and his two second loss earlier in the season to Willcutts at the Fork Union Invitational. Other local runners that are expected to have strong showings are seniors Peter Lomong of Fork Union and Riley Covert of Charlottesville.
On the girls side, the favorites are sophomore Margot Brown of Deep Run, senior Annie Taylor of Western Albemarle, freshman Emma Wolcott of Tuscarora, and sophomore Madeline King of Ocean Lakes. Brown (ranked #6 in 5A) is coming off an impressive 2nd place finish at the Maymont Invitational. Taylor (#7 in 3A) has a personal record of 18:08, which is the fastest in the field. The freshman Wolcott just ran 18:54, a 53 second personal best, to finish 3rd at the Loudon County Championships, and King (#11 in 6A) ran 18:55 to finish 4th at the Octoberfest Invitational. Also, look for locals junior Maddie Hunter of STAB, senior Chance Masloff of Western, and freshman Kenzie Lloyd of Albemarle to contend with the top individuals in the girls race.