Sunday, August 30, 2009
Can Bruins' harriers be beat?
Hidden Valley and Blacksburg girls likely to battle again to be the state's best in cross country.
JOHN W. ADKISSON I The Roanoke Times
Hidden Valley cross country runners Drew Dillon (left) and Lindsay Skolrood stretch prior to competing at a meet at Roanoke College.
JOHN W. ADKISSON I The Roanoke Times
Hidden Valley's Lindsay Skolrood (205), Drew Dillon (198), Claire Sibley (204) and Annie LeHardy (178) compete at Roanoke College.
varsity.roanoke.com
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When four members of Hidden Valley's girls cross country team showed up wearing "The Incredibles" costumes for a recent all-comers track meet, they could have been sending a message that they've bought into the hype from those proclaiming them the best girls team at any level in Virginia.
That's not the case, assures one of the team's stars, junior Annie LeHardy.
"We're not sending a message," said a smiling LeHardy, who was second in last year's state meet in a heartbreakingly close photo finish. "We're just running."
If there's any message in those costumes -- debuted at a spirit day at school last fall, by the way -- it's that the team is trying to take a lighthearted, fun approach to the upcoming campaign, in which they hope to finally unseat three-time defending state champion Blacksburg, which edged the Titans last year on a tiebreaker.
Both teams start their quest today.
Hidden Valley edged Christiansburg 47-57 in its own season-opening Clash with the Titans Invitational, despite holding its three returning all-staters out of the meet.
At the Great Meadows Invitational in Northern Virginia, Blacksburg easily topped the 21-team field, which included Group AAA powerhouse Midlothian.
The top five Bruins all finished in the top 10, with twin seniors Joanna and Kathleen Stevens taking the top two spots.
Returning their top five runners from last year's oh-so-close squad, the Titans are the popular pick to finally topple the Bruins.
But not by coach Dan King.
"On paper we look great," said King as he watched his kids run at the Aug. 11 all-comers track meet at Roanoke College, a casual meet that the team was using as a practice workout. "But that's on paper."
King said he knows that Blacksburg lost its top two finishers from last year's state meet to graduation. But he also knows that Blacksburg coach James DeMarco has talented runners moving up to complement his three returning stars.
"They don't rebuild, they reload," King said. "I know that's an old cliche' from 100 years ago, but it's true.
"They're the three-time defending state champion so they're the favorite until they get beat and my kids know that."
In addition to LeHardy, Hidden Valley brings back all-staters Haley Cutright, a junior who was fourth at in the state meet last fall, and senior Claire Sibley, who was seventh.
Seniors Lindsey Skolrood, who was 19th at state, and Mary Catherine Sowder (29th) also return. Sowder won Saturday's race at Hidden Valley.
What should be missing from this year's team is the roughly two-minute gap between the team's fifth and sixth runners, a drop-off that ultimately decided the state title when the tiebreaker came down to the finishing place of the Titans' and Bruins' sixth runners.
King said several runners are competing for the final two spots on the varsity roster and should give the team the depth it's been missing the past two seasons.
"I think we have a really optimistic outlook," LeHardy said. "We have more girls this year, so there isn't as much pressure."
While King seems happy to play the underdog role, he's getting some competition on that front from DeMarco.
"On the girls side we'll have the biggest challenge we've ever had," he said. "We're going to be playing catch-up the whole season.
"If both of us stay healthy, Hidden Valley is the top dog out there."
Assuming both teams advance to the state meet, one of them winning isn't a given.
Third last year, Millbrook didn't lose a single runner to graduation. Fourth-place Brentsville District returns four of its top five runners, and Potomac Falls brings back five of its top six runners, plus will benefit from the return of star Christina Lee, who was injured last fall and didn't run.
At Blacksburg, a trio of seniors will look to step into the gap created by the graduation of Allison Homer and Trinity Foreman, who are running cross country this fall at Wake Forest and Appalachian State, respectively.
Leading the way are the Stevens sisters, who are coming off of a stellar outdoor track season and who fittingly ran the same time of 19:08 in last year's state cross country meet to finish 14th and 16th, respectively.
Joanna Stevens ran a 18:12 Saturday, while Kathleen clocked an 18:51.
Sandwiched between the Stevens duo at the state meet was Leah Fitchett, who also had a strong outdoor track season this past spring, finishing seventh in the 3,200 and eighth in the 1,600. She was ninth Saturday.
The fourth and fifth spots should go to junior Sarah Dorrell, whose 46th place in the state cross country meet clinched the tiebreaker last fall, and sophomore Hannah Brown. Dorrel was fifth Saturday; Brown 10th.
Behind the top five, things are more wide open for the Bruins, with DeMarco saying five or six runners could be the team's sixth runner.
Early season match-ups between the teams, such as at the Knights Crossing Invitational at Green Hill Park on Sept. 12, should provide hints at just how tight the race between the teams will be.
But, with Hidden Valley often not fielding a full squad for early meets -- Sibley and Cutright missed some races for soccer commitments -- the real excitement probably won't come until later in the season.
