Thursday, October 29, 2009
Byrd boys, Northside girls take home district meet titles
varsity.roanoke.com
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TROUTVILLE -- A popular motel slogan from three decades ago used to proclaim "the best surprise is no surprise."
Such was the credo being dusted off by William Byrd and Northside cross country coaches Eric Royal and Jeremy Woods, respectively, whose boys and girls squads prevailed as expected in the Blue Ridge District cross country meet held at Greenfield Sports Complex in Botetourt County Wednesday afternoon.
With temperatures in the mid 60s and humidity at a comfortable level, both coaches were pleased with the times of their leaders on the hilly terrain. Soft spots remaining from the previous night's rain prevented any record-setting performances, however.
Byrd sophomore Kevin O'Connor paced the boys, finishing the 5,000-meter course in 17:45, 13 seconds and change ahead of Staunton River's Stuart Robertson.
"[The course] was pretty muddy," said O'Connor, whose personal best of 17:03 was recorded early this season in the Metro. "It's a tough course, especially the first mile."
Byrd's point total of 33 easily defeated second-place Alleghany's 56. The Terriers got strong efforts from their Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 runners, who placed eighth, ninth, tenth and 11th individually, just 15 seconds separating the foursome of Eric Griffin, Joshua Williams, Jonathan Williams and Phillip Gilmore. Gilmore finished merely a quarter second behind Jonathan Williams (19:36.58 compared to 19:36.33), but his effort did not count toward the team's point total, determined by the top five finishers.
"Our guys are really motivated," said Royal, who earned boys coach of the year honors. "They put the work in and they compete internally. They're not satisfied with a teammate finishing first. That's why we have good depth from No. 1 through No. 11."
Alleghany had three finishers among the top six boys (Zach Carroll was third, Cimarron Nicely was fourth, and Eric Bartocci was sixth), but no other Mountaineer finished in the top 20.
Northside junior Erin Wheeler paced her team to the girls' title, finishing in 21:07, nearly two minutes ahead of the second-place finisher Casey Clark, also a Viking. Northside's Emily Rawlings was less than two seconds behind Clark, giving the Vikes a 1-2-3 finish.
"I'm happy; I thought I did a good job," said Wheeler, who was second in the district last year as a sophomore. "It was fun -- and this is not one of the most fun courses."
Climbing a hill at the start, Wheeler was positioned in the middle of the pack of the 24-runner field. "My weakness is hills," she said, "so I had a little problem getting started."
By the flats, however, Wheeler was cruising.
"Erin ran extremely well," said Woods, who was named girls coach of the year. "She got out front and ran with a lot of confidence."
Staunton River, which joined the Blue Ridge this season, qualified for the region meet by placing among the top four teams. The Golden Eagles boys team beat Northside 85-108 for the fourth spot. The Eagles did not field a girls team Wednesday.
In addition to the team competition, the top 15 individuals advanced to the Region III meet which will be held at Greenfield next week.
"Spotswood is probably out of reach," said O'Connor, "but we want to get JF [Jefferson Forest] for second. I think we can do it."
At Greenfield, Botetourt County
Boys team scores
1. x-William Byrd (WB) 33, 2. x-Alleghany (A) 56, 3. x-Lord Botetourt (LB) 80, 4. x-Staunton River (SR) 85, 5. Northside (N) 108.
Boys results
1. Kevin O'Connor (WB) 17:45, 2. Stuart Robertson (SR) 17:58, 3. Zach Carroll (A) 18:08, 4. Cimarron Nicely (A) 18:28, 5. Nick Leffell (WB) 18:47, 6. Eric Bartocci (A) 18:58, 7. Micah Luedtke (LB) 19:15, 8. Eric Griffin (WB) 19:21, 9. Joshua Williams (WB) 19:30, 10. Jonathan Williams (WB) 19:36, 11. Phillip Gilmore (WB) 19:36, 12. Bennett Witcher (LB) 19:36, 13. Colton Parker (SR) 19:40, 14. Robbie Higgs (N) 19:42, 15. Chris Boyd (WB) 19:45.
Girls team scores
1. x-Northside (N) 35, 2. x-William Byrd (WB) 47, 3. x-Lord Botetourt (LB) 53), 4. x-Alleghany (A) 80.
Girls results
1. Erin Wheeler (N) 21:07, 2. Casey Clark (N) 23:06, 3. Emily Rawlings (N) 23:07, 4. Taylor Cline (LB) 23:48, 5. Alison Adkins (A) 24:40, 6. Angela Sanabria (WB) 24:45, 7. Eryn Turney (LB) 24:45, 8. Jordan Gulli (WB) 25:10, 9. Sarah Hammer (LB) 25:11, 10. Emily Yeatts (WB) 25:20, 11. Laura McConchie (WB) 25:33, 12. Kara Kingery (WB) 25:47, 13. Elizabeth Wilson (N), 25:55, 14. Meghan Forbes (A) 26:01, 15. Jessica Snead (LB) 26:02.
x-team qualifier for Region III meet
