Richmond Area Weekly Recap (9/28)


This weekend, we saw two competitive meets - the V.T.C.A. Invitational and Patrick Henry Invitational - as well some impressive individual performances, namely from defending 5A state champion Colby Burcham. Glen Allen's boys also took care of business at the Octoberfest Invitational.


V.T.C.A. Invite: 

The Virginia Track Coaches' Association Invitational was held at Pocahontas State Park, and we got to see great team showings from Deep Run, Maggie Walker, and Midlothian.  Deep run claimed second on the boys' side and sixth on the girls', Maggie Walker took third and first, and Midlothian got fifth and third.

Deep Run was led by their returning champion Colby Burcham who placed second with a time of 15:34, and now leads the 5A division by over 30 seconds.  Senior Jordan Bendura  (16:24) and sophomore Michael Tull (16:33) followed closely in eighth and tenth, respectively.

Seniors Ben Neuwirth and Carter Morgan led Maggie Walker's boys, finishing sixth (16:02) and seventh (16:21).  Senior Mary Caroline Heinen led the girls in first place (18:12), followed by junior Mary Kemp (19:58) in tenth place and freshman Brenna Luczak (20:07) in 14th.

Sophomore Will Gardner led Midlothian's boys in 18th place with a time of 16:55. Junior Caroline Bowe (18:40) and senior Gabriella Garcia (18:43) were the strong front line for the girls, picking up second and third, respectively.  Junior Katherine Krievs (20:19) rounded out the top three.


Other:  James River boys, eighth; girls, tenth.  Megan Covington (James River), ninth, 19:42.  Luke Lamberson (James River), ninth, 16:31.  Gavin Timmons (Powhatan), 16th, 16:46.



Patrick Henry Invitational: 

It's not too often we get to see the host school do well across the board, but Patrick Henry certainly showed up on Saturday.  Registering second place team finishes on both sides, they showed great overall consistency.  Sophomore Trevor Mason (16:19) led the way in third place, followed by senior Carter Burcham (16:39) and sophomore Luke Taylor (16:54) in sixth and seventh place, respectively.

On the girls' side, senior Emily Morris (19:53) in second, junior Emmy Joyce (20:43) in sixth, and junior Melanie McAdoo (20:57) in eighth made up a fast top three.  Junior Kali Dennehy (21:50) contributed in 17th place.

Douglas Freeman had a good overall showing as well, tallying a fourth place guys' finish as well as an eighth place girls' finish.  Junior Brett Bishop (17:19) and sophomore Nathan Elkin (17:30) spearheaded a balanced team effort in 13th and 17th place.  Senior Karson Girvin (20:30) led the girls with a fourth place finish.

Junior Mary Kehoe (19:49) from St. Gertrude won the race, edging out Patrick Henry's Morris by four seconds.


Other:  Michael Morrissey (Benedictine), 19th, 17:31.



Octoberfest Invitational: 

They really don't get much closer than this, but Glen Allen stuck together as a team, beating out Thomas Jefferson S&T by just four points (155-159).  While only sophomore Ben Hagerich (16:38) cracked the top 20, finishing in exactly 20th, his teammates formed a close grouping with the next four runners coming in at 24th, 28th, 36th, and 47th.  Cross country is a true team sport, and Glen Allen most definitely ran as a team on Saturday.