Tigers, Eagles win easily

Published in the Daily Press on November 9, 2002

WILLIAMSBURG, VA -- They weren\'t close to their best performances of the year, but the heavily favored Tabb boys and Jamestown girls still won Group AA Region I cross country titles Friday on the 3.1-mile Dunbar Farms Course at Eastern State Hospital.

\"We were hoping to put five guys in the 16s but only had three,\" Tabb coach George Coulter said.

It didn\'t matter. The Tigers, led by junior Sean Bossman, beat their closest challenger, Jamestown, by a comfortable 53-82 margin to win their first regional title since 1993.

Bossman, sixth overall and fifth in the team standings, ran a personal best of 16:28. Other places for the Tigers in the team race were Ryan Kent, sixth in 16:42; Jeffrey Wheeler, 10th, 16:59; Adrian Smith, 12th, 17:01; and Chris Rennix, 20th, 17:12.

\"Overall, our team didn\'t run that well, but this was my best race of the year,\" Bossman said. \"I had some sore legs at the beginning, but I held on and finished strong.\"

The top four teams and 15 individuals in each race advanced to the state meet at Great Meadows in Warrenton on Nov. 16.

Joining Tabb in the boys competition will be Jamestown, Massaponax and Grafton. Other top individuals advancing were Lisa Crain of Bruton, third in the girls race in 19:31; and Trent Williams of York, fourth in the boys race in 16:24.

The Jamestown girls, No. 2 in the state AA Milestat.com rankings, had a tougher time than expected but still beat runnerup Chancellor 66-85. Besides Jamestown, those advancing for the girls were Chancellor, Bruton and Massaponax.

\"After the race I was a little unsure that we\'d won,\" said Jamestown freshman Monika Henn. \"We didn\'t run as well as we did at the district.\"

The Eagles\' top 3 finished 5-6-7 with Erin Mearns (19:43.9), Henn (19:49.5) and Elizabeth Winthrop (19:50.2). Sara Leonard was the No. 4 runner, 19th in 20:49; and Megan Orange fifth, 29th in 21:26.

\"Our top-3 girls ran a good race, but they weren\'t their normal dominating selves,\" said Jamestown coach Ed Boyd. \"Our fourth and fifth runners really came through.\"

Jamestown senior Jonna Reinhardt and Chancellor sophomore Beth Mahalak captured the individual titles. Reinhardt, despite having trouble breathing because of chest congestion, ran a time of 15 minutes and 37 seconds to beat runner-up Michael Disilrestro of Massaponax by 15 seconds.

Mahalak, who broke away from the pack early, ran 18:58.9 to top Eileen Wicker of New Kent by more than 17 seconds.

Jamestown\'s boys emerged the biggest surprise. They finished a disappointing third in the district but bounced back for runner-up honors with the team of Sean McCorry, Richard Rehkopf, Colt Allgood and Chris Abbondanzo.