Thursday, October 02, 2008
Metro masterpiece
Glenvar's Megan Marsico takes another meet in record time, while Blacksburg sweeps the team titles at Green Hill Park.
Photos by Marcus Yam | The Roanoke Times
Glenvar's Megan Marsico breaks both the course and meet record Wednesday at the Metro Invitational cross country meet.
Josh Morris of Jefferson Forest took control at the midway point and won the boys' division in Wednesday's Metro Invitational by nearly 20 seconds at Green Hill Park.
Franklin County's Stephanie Liddle leads a pack of runners during Wednesday's Metro Invitational.
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Blacksburg's girls' cross country team was nearly perfect at Wednesday's 35th annual Metro Invitational, taking six of the race's top seven places.
The runner who kept them from being perfect was close to perfect herself.
Glenvar junior Megan Marsico scorched the 3.1-mile course at Green Hill Park in 17 minutes, 45.75 seconds, breaking the meet and course record.
Running way out front the entire race, Marsico got extra motivation when she turned on to the final stretch and saw the finish clock.
"I got excited," said Marsico, who was coming off a big win in Saturday's prestigious McDonald's Cross Country Festival outside of Richmond. "I knew I'd have to really push it."
In fact, she probably could have cruised home and still beaten the 17:51.26 mark set in 2006 by former Northside star Catherine White.
Led by Allison Homer at 19:10.88, six Bruins were next across the line to give Blacksburg an easy team title over runner-up Cave Spring. The win was Blacksburg's fourth consecutive championship in the Roanoke Valley's longest-running major cross country meet.
Josh Morris of Jefferson Forest won the boys' race in 15:51.89, 19 seconds ahead of Zeke Hunsberger of Lord Botetourt.
Led by third-place Matt Howard, Blacksburg edged Jefferson Forest for its third straight boys' team championship.
"For the windy day, I thought we ran really well," Blacksburg coach James DeMarco said.
He added that the girls' team benefited by the absence of Hidden Valley, which opted not to race because the Titans sought a break between the McDonald's race and a big meet this coming weekend.
"If Hidden Valley had been here, it would have been much more of a dogfight," DeMarco said.
Other than the breeze, conditions were favorable for fast times, with temperatures around 60 degrees and the mostly grass course fairly dry.
Rocketing to the front at the gun, Marsico wasn't daunted by the wind.
"The wind was a little bit of a factor," Marsico said. "But it wasn't too bad."
As has become the norm this season, Marsico's only company on the course was the bicyclist leading the runners along the route.
"I like running like that," the Highlanders runner said. "Just breaking out and falling in to your own pace."
Marsico was 1:50 faster than she was at last year's Metro, when she finished fourth.
"I've gotten mentally stronger in races," said Marsico, who said her Christian faith and spirituality have helped her mental approach. "I've gotten a lot better at controlling my nerves.
"God has given me this awesome talent and I want to make the best of it. Every race I give him the praise and glory."
Highlanders coach Dickie Myers said that a better attitude isn't the only thing that has helped Marsico become so dominant this season.
"She's focused on it and she really loves to go after it," said Myers, who noted that he's never had a harder-working athlete. "As long as she wants to do it, I don't mind spending time with her."
While the only drama in the girls' race was whether or not Marsico would break White's record, the boys' race was much tighter.
As usual, Hunsberger blasted off the line and at the half-mile point he had a lead of 30 yards over Morris and Howard.
"It's just my style to go out as fast as I can and hold on as long as I can, and maybe I'll win one," said Hunsberger, a senior.
Morris, a junior who recently transferred to Jefferson Forest from Liberty Christian Academy, didn't panic.
"I just raced against him on Saturday," Morris said. "I knew he was going to take off like that."
Morris caught Hunsberger at the halfway point and built on his lead for a comfortable win.
He said running for a bigger school has helped him improve this season.
"The competition is so much better," Morris said. "I'm getting stronger and I'm learning more about how to race.
"I know when to go, and when not to go."
Hunsberger maintained contact with Howard, then passed the Bruins' team leader in the final stretch.
"I have a rule that if I'm within 20 feet of someone on the final stretch," Hunsberger said, "I'm going to pass them."
Boys' results
Blacksburg 53, Jefferson Forest 61, William Byrd 78, Lord Botetourt 129, Cave Spring 158, Patrick Henry 170, Roanoke Catholic 171, Floyd County 200, Alleghany County 209, Salem 260, Franklin County 303, North Cross 321, Northside 376, Craig County 397, Glenvar 401
Top individuals: 1. Josh Morris (JF) 15:51.89, 2. Zeke Hunsberger (LB) 16:10.99, 3. Matt Howard (B) 16:14.86, 4. George Carter (B) 16:49.09, 5. Kyle O'Connor (WB) 16:56.07, 6. Nick Leffell (WB) 16:59.40, 7. Sean Flynn (RC) 17:02.98, 8. Austin Grubb (FC) 17:03.54, 9. Caleb Kingery (WB) 17:04.03, 10. Cody Seymour (CS) 17:04.49, 11. Michael Plazak (JF) 17:05.31, 12. Robert Deis (JF) 17:06.83, 13. Brian Hencke (B) 17:10.87, 14. Brian Ledwith (S) 17:12.06, 15. Todd TenPas (JF) 17:14.00
Girls' results
Blacksburg 20, Cave Spring 84, Jefferson Forest 99, Patrick Henry 105, Roanoke Catholic 159, Glenvar 198, Franklin County 203, Salem 260, Northside 277, Floyd County 287, Alleghany County 291, William Byrd 292, Lord Botetourt 328, Craig County 343, North Cross 349
Top individuals: 1. Megan Marsico (G) 17:45.75, 2. Allison Homer (B) 19:10.88, 3. Joanna Stevens (B) 19:21.80, 4. Trinity Foreman (B) 19:36.26, 5. Leah Fitchett (B) 19:45.46, 6. Kathleen Stevens (B) 19:49.71, 7. Hannah Brown (B) 19:55.66, 8. Kate Norbo (PH) 20:05.26, 9. Deirdre Caffrey (PH) 20:07.26, 10. Molly Western (CS) 20:09.00, 11. Sarah Dorrell (B) 20:16.86, 12. Melissa Schaefer (CS) 20:17.36, 13. Tatum Tyler (CS) 20:20.08, 14. Alisha Royal (WB) 20:24.52, 15. Nicki Jannah (JF) 20:32.49.
