Through their top three the Wildcats of Rockbridge looked like that same team from last year that took runner-up honors at the state meet. John Crews ran just 8 seconds off his own course record on a sunny and humid day with a 16:14 clocking for the win as he ran solo the entire way. Also taking second and third places fairly uncontested were teammates Will Williams (17:17) and Andrew Friski (17:37). However, there was a huge drop off following those three though as Miles Morrison (20th, 18:58) and Ivan Morganson (38th, 19:26).
This huge gap left the window of opportunity there for Rockbridge to be overtaken and it was Fort Defiance who seized the day. While Fort Defiance was missing top runner Jordan Bowman, who was hospitalized the night before with nausea and severe stomach pain, the team persevered with a tight pack of five that were only spread out by a meager 25 seconds apart. This group included junior Jeffrey Weeks (8th, 18:17), freshman Derek Hizer (9th, 18:24), sophomore Daniel Stewart (11th, 18:40), seniors Mike Killen (12th, 18:42), and Kylor Eutsler (13th, 18:43).
It actually could be even not considered an upset for Fort Defiance to have beaten Rockbridge at Eastern Mennonite because it was the third consecutive year Fort Defiance has won the meet. In last year\'s meet, Fort Defiance beat Rockbridge by an ever far greater margin of 43 points. That same Rockbridge team went onto become state runners-up, while Fort Defiance did not make it out of the regional meet. Will history repeat itself and Rockbridge get their act together by state time or shall Fort Defiance reverse last year\'s result and make a huge impact at the state meet? That question will be answered on November 9th.
The girls from Fort Defiance (65 pts) were also giving #2 AA ranked Rockbridge (62 pts) problems as they nearly pulled off an upset like their male counterparts. The Lady Wildcats put four in the top 15 with Kelley Zwart (5th, 21:44), Kendal Schneiter (8th, 22:10), Katie Rouse (14th, 23:01), and Kelly Evans (15th, 23:03), but Fort Defiance kept it close with their entire top five in the top 20 with freshmen Jacklyn Wine (3rd, 21:12) leading the upset charge, Becca Baker (10th, 22:20), Anne Ward (17th, 23:09), Polly Arey (19th, 23:20), Molly Sheets (20th, 23:26). Rockbridge\'s fifth runner fell behind Fort Defiance\'s number five and came in at 24th place with Jessica Young at 23:46, but finished not far enough back for Fort Defiance to earn it\'s upset bid.
Warren County\'s Emily Harrison looked impressive as she broke the course record by nearly a minute as she won the girls\' race in a time of 19:54. She was unpressed by the rest of the field as the next finisher was teammate Michelle Beardmore (21:12).