SALEM, VA -- It seemed more like a track race finish rather than a cross country one with the finish that occured in the boys race at the Metro Invitational between Rockbridge County sophomore John Crews and Roanoke Catholic junior Brian Doherty. All that separated the two at the finish was .81 of a second. Crews took it out fast having a decent size lead 2 miles into the race. Doherty ran in 4th for the majority of the race, but then ran a strong last mile to catch up with Crews. Crews was able to hold off Doherty for the win with his time of 16:10.11 as Doherty finished in at 16:10.92. Defending Metro Invitational champion, Cave Spring senior Bill Meador finished far behind Crews and Doherty as he suffered stomach cramps during the race. He ended up finishing 3rd with a time of 16:43.37.
Crew\'s Rockbridge squad also performed well also as they were able to place 4 runners in the top 15 to score a total of 41 points. Meador\'s squad, Cave Spring squad took second with 52 points as there chances of winning the title were hurt by their #4 and #5 runners.
The Rockbridge girls won the team title very quickly as the team race was basically over when they placed 4 runners in the top 10 positions. The Lady Wildcats were led by individual winner Heidi Fishpaw who beat out defending champion Sarah Bond of Patrick Henry for first with her time of 20:28.94.