BRISTOL, TN -- After having their number owned by the Abingdon boys and sophomore Griff Graves thus far this season, the Christiansburg boys and senior John Horst got revenge at the Bristol Cross as the Christiansburg took first place team honors with 77 points, while Horst won by a 32 second margin over Graves on the 3 mile course with a 15:54 clocking. The Abingdon boys finished third in the team standing behind Daniel Boone (86 pts) of Tennessee with 93 points.
Sophomore Caleb Hughes (8th, 17:09), senior Jeremy Jennings (17th, 17:52), junior Tyler Facundo (21st, 17:58), and junior Mack Marcenelle (32nd, 18:15) completed the top five scoring for Coach Guynn\'s squad behind race winner Horst. Meanwhile, trailing Graves for Abingdon were senior Nathan McMurray (10th, 17:21) and a pack of seniors in Tanner Cummings (27th, 18:04), Will Hiltebrital (28th, 18:08), and Alex Carmack (29th, 18:09). While the Abingdon boys were well packed, the Christiansburg boys were able to fit four runners comfortably ahead of Abingdon\'s third runner Cummings to take the team title.
The Patrick Henry girls dominated the small school division as they won by a 21 point margin with their 57 point team total. The squad was led by race runner-up Maggie Lester as the senior clocked a time of 20:07. Teammate Jessie Morgan also had a strong individual run as the sophomore finished fourth overall in a 20:37 clocking.
On the boys\' side, the Patrick Henry boys were even more dominating as their team score of 34 points put them well ahead of the rest of the field. The first place Patrick Henry squad nearly put six runners in the top 15 places in the small schools division with seniors Charlie Counts (4th, 17:36), Benji Hayton (5th, 17:44), Jack Morgan (6th, 17:53), Dexter Minton (9th, 18:29), Todd Blevins (10th, 18:32), and junior Nick Rowell (16th, 18:46). The team has positioned themselves to be the odds-on favorite to take state runner-up honors in Group A behind the heavily favored Clarke County squad this November.
Finishing 1-2 in the small school boys\' race were Marion seniors Jason Yonts (1stt, 17:15) and Douglas Fender (2nd, 17:25). Both are expected to qualify and represent Region IV well at the state meet this November.
Pulaski County\'s Sabrina Hall was the top Virginian finisher in the championship girls\' race with third place honors in a 20 flat clocking as the Pulaski County girls finished sixth in the team standings (150 pts).