Western Albemarle boys receive scare from cross town rivals

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA -- After simply crushing the talented field at the William & Mary Invitational last weekend, it seemed as though Western Albemarle would be just be unstoppable this season. However, at the Albemarle Invitational, cross town rivals Albemarle proved the old saying that anyone can win on any given day. The Albemarle boys squad came within 4 points (70-74) of knocking off the juggernaut Western Albemarle squad. Funny how tables are turned though. Western Albemarle, being a smaller AA school would be considered a \"juggernaut\" against Albemarle a larger AAA school. However, Western Albemarle coach Lindy Bain has done an excellent job into turning his program into a dynasty as they are consistently one of the top teams in the state year in and year out.

The Western Albemarle boys were led by seniors Phillip Dejong and Charlie Hurt once again as Dejong took second (16:17.2) to Harrisonburg senior Jorge Ruiz (16:02) and Hurt finished 7th with a time of 16:38.6.

The Albemarle boys fought back with some depth of their own as they put 5 guys in the top 21. With their #4 and #5 runners finishing ahead of Western\'s #4 and #5, it made things close when it came down to the final team scoring.

C.D. Hylton\'s Jemissa Hess had an impressive win in the girls race with her time of 19:15.9.

The Jefferson Forest girls dominated the girls race as they were able to place 3 runners in the top 15. Those 3 runners were Shannon Saunders (3rd, 19:42.3), Jennifer Templeton (7th, 19:58.4), and Kristin Saunders (13th, 20:25.6). They look to be one of the favorites in what looks to be a battle for the girls team title in AA between Turner Ashby, Rockbridge, Broad Run, and John Handley.