Despite taking heavy loses to graduation with the likes of state champion Natalie Sherbak and All-State runner Audrey Hand, the Kellam girls maintained their dominance over their district as they won this year\'s meet by a 20 point margin. Kellam junior Tara Connor has asserted herself as one of the Eastern Region\'s best as she posted a personal best time of 19:06 to win her first district title by 15 seconds. Much credit for Kellam\'s continued success has to be given to newcomer Ashley Kukura. The sophomore transfer from C.D. Hylton has actually been running number one for the Lady Knights and in Wednesday\'s district race finished fourth overall in a time of 19:54.35 to earn All-District honors. Sophomore Chelsea Webb (7th, 20:26.78) and Alyssa Kibiloski (11th, 20:50.21) also earned All-District honors in what is traditionally considered the most competitive district in the Eastern Region. Kellam\'s fifth runner to cross the line was sophomore Mackenzie Combs (23rd, 21:52.11) as she secured the team win for her squad with their 43 point team total.
Finishing runner-up to Kellam for the second consecutive year was the squad from Princess Anne with 63 points. The Lady Cavaliers also had four All-District performers as they were led by a strong third place finish by sophomore Katie Winsper in a time of 19:31.26. Also finishing among the top 15 places for Princess Anne were Katie\'s twin sister, Alanna Winsper (8th, 20:33.30), Candace Carter (10th, 20:39.71), and Robin Chidester (12th, 20:55.50).
Also advancing to next week\'s Eastern Region Meet at Newport News Park were Cox with 73 points and Ocean Lakes with 76 points as those teams finished third and fourth respectively. Cox\'s Aspen Foster had an exceptional race to take runner-up honors individually in a time of 19:21.77.
Not to be outdone by the Kellam girls, the Ocean Lakes boys (42 pts) put on a dominating performance to win the boys\' district team title by a 28 point margin over previous three-time defending district champions, Cox (70 pts). The Dolphins were led by a strong front two in Drew Midland (16:06.83) and Clancy Waldron (16:39.60) as they individually finished second and third respectively. Snagging All-District honors also for Ocean Lakes were sophomore David Jeffers (10th, 17:28.50) and junior Ian Murdoch (11th, 17:32.71). Just missing an All-District top 15 finish was Ocean Lakes\' fifth runner Liam Arocho, who finished 16th overall (17:57.76).
The runner-up Falcons were led by fourth place finisher Robby Stoots in a time of 16:45.35. Joining Stoots on the All-District team were fellow teammates Jason Grace (12th, 17:34.85) and Eddie Judge (14th, 17:39.70).
In a close battle for the final two regional qualifying spots which separated four teams by only 11 points, Kellam (3rd, 115 pts) and Landstown (4th, 118 pts) were able to finish just ahead of Tallwood (5th, 120 pts) and Bayside (126 pts). Kellam\'s Mitch Cooper won the individual district crown as he was able to dip under 16 minutes for the first team ever in a personal best time of 15:59.07.