Richmond Area Recap: September 21-22
This weekend revolved around a couple of high-octane meets - RVA and Fork Union - both with different formats, giving us a chance to see runners perform in new ways. We also saw a smaller meet - Big Cat - which gave us a chance to see some fast times out of Douglas Freeman.
RVA Relays: The RVA Relays were held this Saturday at Pole Green Park, and they most certainly did not disappoint. We expected this to be a fast year for the race, but any expectations were surpassed when Deep Run's team of Michael Tull (sophomore), Josh Donnelly (senior), Jordan Bendura (senior), Connor Zebrowski (senior), and Colby Burcham (senior) broke the standing meet record.
"We expected to win," said Burcham, a senior, "[but] we knew it would be a bit of a struggle because of [Cherokee]. They were pretty determined to take us down, but we all had it in us."
And have it in them they did, as we also saw the (tied) fastest split ever from Burcham. According to Burcham, "around a mile, [Ethan Wechsler, Cherokee] started to pull away, and I had to pick it up and surge to get back up with him." Whether to run and hide or come from behind has been hotly debated over the years, but Deep Run has proved once again that there's no hiding from them.
On the girls' side, Maggie Walker pulled out a third-place finish behind Brenna Luczak (freshman), Kathleen Russo (junior), Mary Kemp (junior), Josie Greer (senior), and Mary Caroline Heinen (senior). Deep Run's girls also got a fourth-place finish.
Other: Millbrook girls, fifth. Maggie Walker boys, sixth.
Fork Union Invitational: This year, we got to see a very balanced overall showing out of Cosby, as they placed fourth in the boys' race and third in the girls'. On the boys' side, they were anchored by senior Garrett Schultz with an eighth place finish, clocking in at 16:34, followed up by freshman Jonathan Ryan in 29th (17:38). The girls were led by sophomore Erin Kerr at 13th place (21:00) and close pair Rachel Malone and Kaylee Garrison (junior and sophomore) at 21:22 (21st and 22nd place).
Big Cat: This was a small meet with fast times, and it was run very well by Douglas Freeman. Luke Neely (sophomore), Brett Bishop (sophomore), and Nathan Elkin (sophomore) all broke 17:00 for the first time, placing first, sixth, and seventh, respectively. Sophomore Blair Bishop and senior Campbell Collett rounded out Freeman's top five at 14th and 15th place, bringing them a second-place finish.
Douglas Freeman also cleaned up on the girls' side of things, winning handily with 46 points. They were led by seniors Liza Neely (first) and Karson Girvin (fourth), both running sub-20s, with Neely clocking in at 18:30. They were followed by sophomores Julia Pellei and Madelyn Miller, at 10th and 11th place. Freshman Avery Edmondson rounded out the top five, giving Douglas Freeman the girls varsity title.
Other: Monacan boys/girls, eighth