Chancellor Invitational Summary

Fredericksburg, VA -- The Chancellor Invitational has become a tradition on Labor Day weekend except for last year when the calendar dictated that it be held the following week to accommodate four weeks of official cross country training. This year it returned to the holiday weekend with a total of twenty two team entries on tap to kick off the 2004 Cross Country season. Included in the lineup was James Wood, the defending boys champion the past four years. With heavy losses due to graduation, it appeared to be a tall order for the James Wood crew to retain their run, with Commonwealth District powerhouses Colonial Forge and Massaponax set to dethrone them. While James Wood might have breathed a slight sigh of relief when they found out Massaponax, who was a close second in last year's meet, was not running their varsity squad, the outcome would be quickly determined with the Colonial Forge squad running as a pack the first mile not far behind the leaders. In the end, Colonial Forge dominated the race as they totaled 66 points compared with their nearest competitor, North Stafford who staked a claim in the Commonwealth competition with 118 points as they outdistanced James Wood who finished 3rd with 131.

In the girls' race, the Brook Pointe Black Hawks had just been featured in the local newspaper, the Fredericksburg Free Lance Star, in its annual Cross Country preview. Would this be hex? Not so. They did not let the publicity snakebite them, as they went on to defend their 2003 championship with a narrow 62-77 victory over district rival Colonial Forge. Finishing well back in 3rd place was the Liberty girls' squad with 141 points.

Individually, James Monroe senior Tim Young set the early pace in the first mile with Culpepper junior Devin Cornwall following in his footsteps. When they emerged from the woods on the second mile, it was Cornwall in front, followed by Colonial Forge senior Tony Nowotarski and then Young. They maintained these positions the rest of the way, with Cornwall taking first place with a time of 17:08, Nowotarski finishing 2nd with 17:16 and Young holding on for 3rd place with a time of 17:41.

The girls' race featured two newcomers who made a statement last spring that they would be competitive as they entered high school in the fall. Both of them had broken the Stafford County middle school record in mile and a half, with future Colonial Forge harrier Kaylan Comer barely nipping her future North Stafford rival, Kelly Reinwald. So maybe it was no surprise when the two of them duked it out for first and second in the girls' varsity race, as Comer again claimed the win with a two second margin as she crossed the line in the noon heat and humidity with a time of 20:54. Finishing 3rd was Millbrook's Jillian Pollack.