Richmond Area Recap: October 19-20
Richmond teams only attended one meet this weekend - the MileStat.com Invitational - so we'll be doing a deep dive into what went down at Pole Green Park. Glen Allen continued their cohesiveness, and Deep Run's boys did not disappoint. Cosby and Midlothian performed well on the girls' side.
MileStat.com Invite: As one of the biggest meets this year, the MileStat Invite was highly anticipated. On the guys' side, Deep Run led the way with a third-place team finish. Leading the team was senior Colby Burcham in third place, with a time of 15:37. Senior Jordan Bendura followed up with a 14th place finish, in 15:54. Rounding out the top five were sophomore Michael Tull, junior Kenneth Concepcion, and senior Connor Zebrowski.
Deep Run's girls also did well with a 14th place finish in a stacked Varsity A field. They were led by sophomore Janie Sanborn in 34th, with a time of 19:11. Coming in close together in 84th and 91st were seniors Eva Brooks and Paula Preda, with times of 20:00 and 20:02, respectively. Juniors Makenzie Steele and Riley Schindel finished out the scoring group at places 101 and 152.
Glen Allen proved once again that they are one of the best all-around schools Their boys' team finished in fifth and their girls' team in 11th, giving them the best average place out of all Richmond area teams, edging out Deep Run by half of a place.
Only one of their boys (senior Devin Johnson) even cracked the top 40 (40th), but the next four consisted of 42nd, 63rd, 67th, and 75th. A 24 second 1-5 split is elite, and can even make up for missing runners, most notably Ben Hagerich. For reference, Kamiakin HS (US #1) has a 1-5 split of 45 seconds. To be missing at least one major part of your team and still finish in the top five of a competitive meet is highly impressive.
The girls followed suit, ringing up an 11th place finish using the same mold: 42nd, 61st, 81st, 113th, and 118th, with a 1-5 split under one minute.
Maggie Walker put forth a good overall meet as well, finishing their girls in ninth and their boys in 14th.
Senior Mary Caroline Heinen was first for the team and second overall, flying through the course in 17:31. Following up was freshman Brenna Luczak breaking 20:00 for the the second time at 49th with a time of 19:35. Sophomore Alexis Bartee (85th) came agonizingly close with a time of 20 minutes flat, but ran a great race with a three second PR over her Great American time. Freshman Grace Pershing and senior Josie Greer completed the top five in 110th and 119th place, respectively.
On the boys' side, the team was led by seniors Carter Morgan in 20th (16:05) and Ben Neuwirth in 22nd (16:10). Sophomore Ben Blanchard was 109th with a time 16:58, and sophomore Ben Roberts and junior Hugh Feehan finished closely together with times of 17:30 (183rd) and 17:32 (191st).
There were also impressive individual performances outside of those already mentioned. Two runners from Atlee impressed, one male and one female. Junior Ian Sellors finished in 13th with a time of 15:52, and junior Rachel Mudd placed 19th with a time of 18:42.
Midlothian produced two high-placing times on the girls' side, good for 13th and 14th. Junior Caroline Bowe ran the course in 18:32, and senior teammate Gabriella Garcia finished in 18:33.
Senior Garrett Schultz of Cosby finished ninth in 15:51. Senior Emily Morris of Patrick Henry (Ashland) finished 11th in 18:25. Junior Lindsey Hester of James River finished 12th in 18:31.