ROCKBRIDGE, VA -- A little known sophomore named John Crews from Rockbridge County surprised a lot of people and the runners in the race as he won the boys race at the Wildcat Invitational which was hosted by Crews' own school. In a race filled with many experienced and talented All-State caliber seniors such as Bill Meador and Mike Devaughn of Cave Spring, Salem Bush of Blacksburg, and Evan Kays of Stuarts Draft, Crews came out of nowhere and dusted them all off. On the challenging and hilly Rockbridge High School 5K course, Crews ran a great time for the difficulty of the course with his clocking of 16:39. 20 seconds later was Mike Devaughn finishing second in 16:59.
Cave Spring made a strong run for a team title by taking second and third spots with Mike Devaughn and Bill Meador, but they didn't have the depth today to hold off Christiansburg who were led by Troy Meyer's 6th place finishing time of 17:41. Christiansburg ended up scoring 58 points with Cave Spring scoring 66 points.
Jefferson Forest's Shannon Saunders stormed the course with her winning time of 20:42. Her girls squad, competing without their number two runner, Jennifer Templeton, had to settle for second place to the homestanding Rockbridge County girls who were able to to place 3 girls in the top 6 to help lower their score to 47 points.