Albemarle Invitational 2001

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA --
One of the most intense rivalries in Albemarle County may be one of the
least known, but the duels between the boys' cross country teams at
Western Albemarle and Albemarle have been legendary over the past
three years. On Saturday at Panorama Farms, the Warriors prevailed in
the final edition of 2001, defeating the Patriots 91-121. Since the schools are in
different VHSL classifications, it was the final meeting of the season between
the two squads. Western notched the win by placing runners where it counted - beating
the Patriots at spots two through five. The Warriors' Peter Burch continued
his great efforts this season, leading Western into the chute with a finish
in sixth-place overall in a time of 16:31. Albemarle's Travis Lambert
edged Burch for fifth. But the Warriors key placings today were those of Alec Lorenzoni (9th,
16:53), Stephen Peeks (10th, 16:54) and Josiah Cadle, who were able to
split the Patriots' top two finishers with four Warriors runners.
"Peter has continued to step up and lead this team, while Josiah is not
running at full strength," Western Albemarle coach Lindy Bain said.
"Our fifth man today was Travis Hurt, who has worked very hard and it is
paying off for him."

Albemarle coach Lance Weisend knew his team had not run that well, but
was happy to have earned second overall in the field of 27 teams.
"It says a lot about our team to have not run well and still placed
second," he said. "We have off until the 25th, and we wil be ready for
the final three meets of this season."

Fork Union's Kippy Keino literally ran away with the meet's top
invidual honor, running by far his best race of the year in a wire-to-wire
victory. He blazed the 5-kilometer course in 15:35.
Keino's effort smashed the course record, set last fall by Jorge Ruiz
of Harrisonburg in 16:02. "Keino's training has been great. It's all
coming together at the right time," FUMA assistant coach Winston Brown said.

Other area runners who finished in the top-15 slots were Louisa's
Daniel Kane (2nd, 15:43), STAB's Andy Newsome (11th, 16:59) and Louisa's Zach
Lipscomb (14th, 17:03). Kane and Lipscomb helped the Lions to an
eighth-place finish, just ahead of Charlottesville in ninth.
The Black Knights were led by Andrew Massaro's 24th-place finish in
17:16 and Michael Negash's 25th in 17:17.

On the girls' side, the county teams were not as dominating as only
three runners were able to break into the top 20. Western Albemarle's Delaney
Moje led the way in 8th with a time of 20:00. Warriors teammates Kelsey
Stafford (19th, 20:32) and Gina Cassela (20th, 20:34) also cracked the top 20.
The Warriors finished in the runner-up slot out of 23 teams, claiming
the second-place trophy. The girls' champion was Jefferson Forest, whose
team scored a scary 45 points.
"Emily Thompson earned the gut award today, running way
below
100 percent because of a cold," Western coach Cherie Witt said. "Amber
Cadle
continued to run great for us."

The girls' individual winner for the second year in a row was Hylton's
Jemissa Hess. The junior blew away her old course record of 19:15 with
an
excellent time of 18:37.
The next best finish by a local team behind Western was Albemarle, who
came
home in eighth place with 268 points.

Elite Performances: 11 boys, 22 girls