The first annual Clash with the Titans was held at Hidden Valley High School in Roanoke this past weekend on their home cross country course, which saw runners face a moderately challenging 5K course with an always fun flowing creek crossing for runners to attempt to run through.
Photo by Janis Lewis
The Hidden Valley girls, one of the top teams in the state according to MileStat.com's pre-season rankings, ran without two of their top four returnees but still managed to impress with a home invite victory and a close 1-2 finish between teammates Annie LeHardy (20:45) and Mary Catherine Sowder (20:46). Sowder could potentially be the team's fourth runner based on last year's results, but finished well ahead of an All-State caliber runner in Alisha Royal of William Byrd (3rd, 21:29).
Not a team of great depth, Hidden Valley was 17 points ahead of runner-up E.C. Glass with a winning team score of 62 points despite having four of the top seven individual finishers. Insert missing teammates and soccer players Haley Cutright and Claire Sibley, the Lady Titans are strong through six runners with Jennifer Huffman as their sixth runner and seventh place individual finisher at the Clash with the Titans.
Photo by Janis Lewis
William Byrd boys had a great upfront running from Caleb Kingery and Kyle O'Conner as the Terrier duo clocked in at times of 17:47 and 17:50 respectively for first and second place finishes on the Hidden Valley 5K course. However, E.C. Glass proved to have superior depth to William Byrd and the rest of the field including three runners in the top ten led by John Adams in fourth place at 18:31. Roanoke Catholic had a strong showing against the public schools as runner-ups to E.C. Glass (55 pts) with 83 points. Sean Flynn, ranked #9 in the private school state rankings, placed 3rd in the race behind the two William Byrd runners with a time of 18:11.
Clash with the Titans Photo Gallery by Janis Lewis - 419 photos total
Clash with the Titans Results: High School Boys - High School Girls - Middle School Mixed