Albemarle Invitational Coverage

Hannah Rose (18:18) edges Allie Klimkiewicz (18:19) in great duel

2012 Albemarle Invitational - Top 10 Girls Teams

1. Oakton - 66 pts
2. Battlefield - 151 pts
3. Osbourn Park - 174 pts
4. Maggie Walker - 176 pts
5. Colonial Forge - 184 pts
6. Albemarle - 273 pts
7. Ocean Lakes - 281 pts
8. Fluvanna - 282 pts
9. Wilson Memorial - 351 pts
10. Forest Park - 405 pts

2012 Albemarle Invitational - Top 15 Girls Individuals

1. Hannah Rose (Wilson Memorial) 18:18.4
2. Allie Klimkiewicz (Oakton) 18:19.0
3. Nicole Carter (Battlefield) 18:37.5
4. Molly Breidenbaugh (Trinity) 18:46.0
5. Rachel Galton (Maggie Walker) 18:53.7
6. Emma Nowak (Osbourn) 19:07.3
7. Allison Huschke (Albemarle) 19:08.1
8. Abby Motley (Kellam) 19:11.5
9. Elizabeth Hutton (Manchester) 19:12.8
10. Olivia Bethune (Ocean Lakes) 19:15.3
11. Katie Bowe (Trinity) 19:21.6
12. Hailey Dougherty (Oakton) 19:22.4
13. Madison Hunter (St. Anne's-Belfield) 19:24.2
14. Kara Kendall (Oakton) 19:25.8
15. Megan Rebholz (Colonial Forge) 19:28.0

Douglas Freeman's Ronnie Calkins gets back on winning track at Panorama Farms

Photos by Alan Norfleet

2012 Albemarle Invitational - Top 10 Boys Teams

1. Battlefield - 103 pts
2. Osbourn Park - 108 pts
3. Albemarle - 178 pts
4. Stafford - 225 pts
5. Douglas Freeman - 227 pts
6. Oakton - 233 pts
7. Maggie Walker - 279 pts
8. Riverbend - 309 pts
9. Forest Park - 310 pts
10. Hidden Valley - 338 pts

2012 Albemarle Invitational - Top 15 Boys Individuals

1. Ronnie Calkins (Douglas Freeman) 15:46.5
2. Andrew Gaiser (Forest Park) 15:48.3
3. Ian Macleod (Stafford) 15:58.0
4. Ryan Thomas (Albemarle) 16:02.0
5. Billy Boros (Kellam) 16:10.2
6. Paul Adam (Lee-Davis) 16:12.6
7. Joey Abbatiello (Stafford) 16:13.7
8. Ian McDonald (Douglas Freeman) 16:13.9
9. Micah Ellington (Hickory) 16:14.8
10. David Taylor (Western Albemarle) 16:16.0
11. Jack Stoney (Oakton) 16:16.2
12. Nick Causey (Osbourn Park) 16:16.3
13. David Gregory (Kellam) 16:18.5
14. Alex Fleckenstein (Maggie Walker) 16:19.1
15. Neil Schubel (Chancellor) 16:20.4

Meet Summary: Four of the top 8 girls teams in Virginia were present on Saturday at the Albemarle Invitational with VA #2 Oakton, VA #4 Osbourn Park, VA #5 Battlefield, VA #6 Colonial Forge, and VA #8 Maggie Walker. The Oakton girls were big winners with a team score of 66 points.

Their top runner Allie Klimkiewicz ended up in a duel with defending Group A state champion Hannah Rose of Wilson Memorial. Both runners had raced against one another at Great American two weeks with both running under 18 minutes on a fast 5K course in Cary, North Carolina with Klimkiewicz finishing ahead of Rose. Rose was able to flip the finish order this time around as it went down to the final straightaway to determine the winner with Rose crossing the line in 18:18.4 and the sophomore Klimkiewicz only six tenths of a second behind in second at 18:19.0. The Albemarle Invite will be one of the last races for Rose to face this type of competition until the post-season after the state championships as the head and shoulders top runner in Group A.

Following Klimkiewicz, Oakton coach Alisa Byers saw her team's next five runners place among the top 25 individually between Hailey Dougherty (12th, 19:22), Kara Kendall (14th, 19:25), Maryn McCarty (22nd, 19:48), Kristi Carrigan (23rd, 19:50), and Briana Stewart (25th, 19:52). Oakton will go into the championship season undefeated against all Virginia competition, but has yet to face their regional rival and top ranked Lake Braddock.

Since Panorama Farms is also home to the Northwest Region Championships, virtually all the top teams were present at the Albemarle Invitational to preview the course. Battlefield, Osbourn Park, and Colonial Forge have made the Northwest Region into one of the tougher regions this fall, but had yet to run in the same meet all together this season. On Saturday, Battlefield proved to be the best on that day in taking runner-up to Oakton with 151 points and trailed by Osbourn Park (3rd, 174 pts), Maggie Walker (4th, 176 pts), and Colonial Forge (5th, 184 pts). Battlefield was an impressive second place without one of their top runners in Becca Howe. Leading the Lady Bobcats was 2011 Northwest Region cross country champion Nicole Carter of Battlefield, who in the pre-season looked to be the third best runner in the region coming in behind Frances Morales of Colonial Forge and Hannah Lowery of Stafford. However, Morales has been out all season due to injury and Lowery struggled in her last race (possibly injury or illness related) at Octoberfest to put Carter back in the favorite role again especially after an 18:37 5K third place performance at the Albemarle Invite. Battlefield had two freshmen step up among their top four finishers in Georgia Matthews (16th, 19:35) and Kyla Carte (34th, 20:05), while junior and previous #5 runner Emma Thornberg moving up in the field to 26th place (19:54).

The Osbourn Park girls have relied on their pack running to their team's success this fall, but it was tough for them to overcome Battlefield putting three runners ahead of their first finisher Jessica Gray (27th, 19:58). They had the pack incredibly tight through four runners as only 10 places and 11 seconds separated Gray from Osbourn Park's fourth finisher Helena Mulder (37th, 20:09), while their team's next two finishers Sarah Karalus (52nd, 20:25) and Kelly Russell (59th, 20:32) were about 20 seconds back each.

Maggie Walker girls were only two points behind Osbourn Park in fourth place with 176 points. The Green Dragons had two girls among the top 20 in senior Rachel Galton (5th, 18:53) and freshmen Willa King (19th, 19:39). King has been a nice addition to the Maggie Walker team as junior Daisy Banta (43rd, 20:15) works herself back into shape after missing the summer training and first half of cross country season meets.

It was a close team race between the Battlefield (1st, 103 pts) and Osbourn Park (2nd, 108 pts) boys with only five points separating the two top ranked teams from the Northwest Region.

Haben Zemichael finally ran as Battlefield's #1 runner as the returning sub 16 minute 5K runner was expected at season start, but had struggled up until the Albemarle Invitational. While not at his top form yet, Zemichael led the way in 16th place with a season best 5K time of 16:20 and quite a few black singlets with purple lettering followed after him in the form of Battlefield teammates. Only a remarkable 14 seconds separated the top five scorers for the Battlefield boys between Zemichael, Luke Mazzu (17th, 16:21), Aaron Hill (20th, 16:27), Ryan Miller (23rd, 16:30), and Connor Lee (27th, 16:34). The VA #4 ranked Battlefield squad actually had their entire top 7 under 17 minutes at Panorama Farms with Cameron Henken (3rd, 16:42) and Brandon Lee (38th, 16:51) also racing well.

Ranked #5 in the state of Virginia, the Osbourn Park boys did nothing to hurt their ranking by matching up fairly even to VA #4 Battlefield and only losing by five points. Osbourn Park junior Nick Causey ran well up front for his squad to break into the top 15 with a 5K PR time of 16:16, while his squad's remaining top five was all in by the next 19 seconds with Jonathan Lopacki (18th, 16:24), Kyle Weinberg (24th, 16:30), Matthew Thatcher (26th, 16:33), and Ryan Thompson (28th, 16:35).

The Northwest Region swept the top four places and it could very well end up being the four teams which advance onto the state meet from the region when they all come back to Panorama Farms later this season in Battlefield, Osbourn Park, Albemarle (3rd, 178 pts), and Stafford (4th, 225 pts).

After starting out his season slow due to a summer injury, Douglas Freeman senior Ronnie Calkins appears to be starting to round himself into shape to peak well in championship season. Calkins and Forest Park's Andrew Gaiser were able to break away from the field late which included five other VA top 25 ranked individuals in VA #7 Ian Macleod of Stafford, VA #10 Ryan Thomas of Albemarle, VA #13 David Taylor of Western Albemarle, VA #19 Billy Boros of Kellam, and VA #21 Paul Adam of Lee-Davis. Calkins was able to make the strongest last surge to pull away from Gaiser (15:48) for a two second victory at 15:46. Calkins will be looking to win his first Central Region cross country title after winning two 3200 regional titles during the last track season, while Gaiser now has beaten all of the Northwest Region's best at Panorama Farms has to feel much better about chances of becoming a regional champ.

Albemarle Invitational Results:

• Freshmen Boys
• Freshmen Girls
• JV Boys
• JV Girls
• Middle School Race
• Varsity Boys
• Varsity Girls

Photo Gallery by Alan Norfleet

Below are the performances entered for the meet that met the national silver standard.

41 National Elites.