Albemarle Invitational 2010

Mattie Webb 18:14 Kyle King 15:37 Photos by John Herzog   On an unseasonably warm day with temperatures rising to the mid 80s at Panorama Farms in the afternoon start for the Albemarle Invitational (due to SAT testing date), two runners were not to be broken by the heat or the top competition against them in Western Albemarle senior Mattie Webb and Grafton senior Kyle King. Both Webb and King were pre-season favorites in Group AA and their races at the Albemarle Invite only further reinforced them as the top runners in their classification. Webb had three top 10 ranked runners in the race against her including Group AAA state title contender Hannah Lowery of Stafford, while King was facing two individuals who prize the Group AA state cross country title which he won as a junior last year. In similar races, Webb and King dropped their challengers by the two mile mark to roll to decisive wins with final times of 18:14 for Webb and 15:37 for King.   The Albemarle boys appear to have gotten a lift from transfer Chris Springer coming back from injury and inserting freshmen and full-time JV football player Ryan Thomas into their top five as Ben Deal, Austin McPhillips, and Adam Visokay took care of the rest as their top three finishing among the top 20. The Patriots claimed the team title over Commonwealth District and Northwest Region rivals Stafford and Riverbend, while cross town rival Western Albemarle experienced an off day following their great runner-up performance at Maymont.     The Ocean Lakes girls have to feel very good about their chances of finishing high at the state meet this year after a second straight trip to the western part of the state for a hilly 5K course against top competition. Last week, the defending Eastern Region champions placed a respectably close second to the top Northern Region squad Thomas Jefferson and this week notched a comfortable team victory against higher ranked squads Western Albemarle and Osbourn Park. Audrey Batzel led Ocean Lakes with a sixth place finish, while the remaining five were well packed with a group featuring a pair of older and younger sister combos in the Bethune's and Park's.   Albemarle Invitational Results: Varsity Boys - Varsity Girls - JV Boys #1 - JV Boys #2 - JV Girls - Middle School Boys - Middle School Girls   Photo Gallery by John Herzog - 1,609 total photos from all high school races.   Race Videos: Varsity Boys - Varsity Girls - JV Red Boys - JV Blue Boys - JV Girls - Middle School Boys - Middle School Girls   Video Interviews: Kyle King - Mattie Webb - Albemarle Boys Top 3 - Audrey Batzel - Colin Taylor - Krista DeCault   More to come from Albemarle Invitational including race videos, photo gallery, and interviews!

Grafton senior Kyle King (pictured above by John Herzog) will have a perfect opportunity to prove that he is still the defending Group AA state cross country champion at Saturday's Albemarle Invitational when he faces two runners who have legitimate hopes of becoming Group AA champions as well in November at Great Meadow in Skyline sophomore Thomas Madden and Western Albemarle senior Derek Armstrong. Madden has the #1 ranking currently in Group AA, while Armstrong defeated King in his first race of the season at Maymont.   Preview for Saturday's Albemarle Invitational which has gathered some of the best talent in Virginia this weekend with five of the top 10 ranked boys teams and five of the top 15 ranked girls teams as Western Albemarle is the top ranked program in both fields, but clearly will be tested to accomplish a sweep of the team titles. Course and meet records should be threatened. Especially with Mattie Webb of Western Albemarle already having posted a 5K time 25 seconds faster than the course record this season and three challengers to keep the pace fast in VA #4 Hannah Lowery, VA #8 Erin Wheeler, and VA #6 Crystal Nelson. The Albemarle Invite will be a great preview for Group AA boys' state race with the top three ranked runners in the classification facing off on Saturday in VA #4 Thomas Madden of Skyline, VA #5 Derek Armstrong of Western Albemarle, and VA #6 Kyle King of Grafton. Read full preview here...

Information and reminders for coaches and parents for Saturday's Albemarle Invitational at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville.